canonical way to randomize an NSArray in Objective-C

Question

Is there a canonical way to randomize an array in Objective-C?

Answer 1

My utility library defines this category on NSMutableArray to do it:

@interface NSMutableArray (ArchUtils_Shuffle)
- (void)shuffle;
@end

// Chooses a random integer below n without bias.
// Computes m, a power of two slightly above n, and takes random() modulo m,
// then throws away the random number if it's between n and m.
// (More naive techniques, like taking random() modulo n, introduce a bias 
// towards smaller numbers in the range.)
static NSUInteger random_below(NSUInteger n) {
    NSUInteger m = 1;

    // Compute smallest power of two greater than n.
    // There's probably a faster solution than this loop, but bit-twiddling
    // isn't my specialty.
    do {
        m <<= 1;
    } while(m < n);

    NSUInteger ret;

    do {
        ret = random() % m;
    } while(ret >= n);

    return ret;
}

@implementation NSMutableArray (ArchUtils_Shuffle)

- (void)shuffle {
    // http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuth_shuffle

    for(NSUInteger i = [self count]; i > 1; i--) {
        NSUInteger j = random_below(i);
        [self exchangeObjectAtIndex:i-1 withObjectAtIndex:j];
    }
}

@end

Make sure you seed the random number generator (with e.g. srandom(time(NULL))) sometime before you call it; otherwise the output won't be very random.

Answer 2

Here it is!

- (NSArray*)shuffleArray:(NSArray*)array {

    NSMutableArray *temp = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:array];

    for(NSUInteger i = [array count]; i > 1; i--) {
        NSUInteger j = arc4random_uniform(i);
        [temp exchangeObjectAtIndex:i-1 withObjectAtIndex:j];
    }

    return [NSArray arrayWithArray:temp];
}

Answer 3

if ([array count] > 1) {
    for (NSUInteger shuffleIndex = [array count] - 1; shuffleIndex > 0; shuffleIndex--)
        [array exchangeObjectAtIndex:shuffleIndex withObjectAtIndex:random() % (shuffleIndex + 1)];
}

Make sure to seed the random() function with either srandomdev() or srandom().

Answer 4

There is none built into the SDK if that's what you are asking.

You can use just about any randomization or shuffling algorithm you want however. Different algorithms have different tradeoffs in terms of randomness, efficiency, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuffling#Shuffling_algorithms

For algorithms that shuffle "in-place" start with a mutable array use

insertObject:atIndex:
removeObjectAtIndex:

For algorithms that reconstruct the array, feed it the original and build a new array.

Answer 5

My solution is a category method that returns a copy of the array (autoreleased) with elements randomised (using arc4random).

@interface NSArray (CMRandomised)

/* Returns a copy of the array with elements re-ordered randomly */
- (NSArray *)randomised;

@end

/* Returns a random integer number between low and high inclusive */
static inline int randomInt(int low, int high)
{
    return (arc4random() % (high-low+1)) + low;
}

@implementation NSArray (CMRandomised)

- (NSArray *)randomised
{
    NSMutableArray *randomised = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:[self count]];

    for (id object in self) {
        NSUInteger index = randomInt(0, [randomised count]);
        [randomised insertObject:object atIndex:index];
    }
    return randomised;
}

@end

Answer 6

NSArray randomization as Objective-C category method:

@implementation NSArray (NGDataDynamics)

- (NSArray *)jumbled
{
  NSMutableArray *jumbled = self.mutableCopy;

  NSUInteger idx = self.count-1;
  while(idx)
  {
    [jumbled exchangeObjectAtIndex:idx
                 withObjectAtIndex:arc4random_uniform(idx)];
    idx--;
  }

  return jumbled;
}

@end

As seen: NSArray Randomization & Psychedelia

Answer 7

There isn't a canonical way without making a category on NSArray (i.e. have an instance method like arrayWithRandomizedIndices) or NSMutableArray (i.e. have a method like randomizeIndices).

Here's an example from my library, part of a category on NSMutableArray. It will randomly reorder the array, rather than shuffle a few entries.

- (void) randomizeIndices
{
  if (self == nil || [self count] <= 1)
  {
    return;
  }

  int count = [self count];

  NSMutableArray* copySelf = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:self];
  NSMutableArray* mutableResultArray = [NSMutableArray alloc];
  mutableResultArray = [mutableResultArray initWithCapacity:count];
  [mutableResultArray autorelease];

  int objectsMovedCount = 0;

  for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
  {
    int index = rand() % (count - objectsMovedCount);
    id anObject = [copySelf objectAtIndex:index];
    [mutableResultArray addObject:anObject];
    [copySelf removeObjectAtIndex:index];
    objectsMovedCount++;
  }
  [self setArray:mutableResultArray];
}

Call srand(time(0)); or some such before calling this method or early in the method.