How to randomize (shuffle) a JavaScript array?

Question

I have an array like this:

var arr1 = ["a", "b", "c", "d"];

How can I randomize / shuffle it?

Answer 1

The de-facto unbiased shuffle algorithm is the Fisher-Yates (aka Knuth) Shuffle.

See https://github.com/coolaj86/knuth-shuffle

You can see a great visualization here (and the original post linked to this)

function shuffle(array) {
  var currentIndex = array.length,  randomIndex;

  // While there remain elements to shuffle...
  while (0 !== currentIndex) {

    // Pick a remaining element...
    randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * currentIndex);
    currentIndex--;

    // And swap it with the current element.
    [array[currentIndex], array[randomIndex]] = [
      array[randomIndex], array[currentIndex]];
  }

  return array;
}

// Used like so
var arr = [2, 11, 37, 42];
shuffle(arr);
console.log(arr);

Some more info about the algorithm used.

Answer 2

Here's a JavaScript implementation of the Durstenfeld shuffle, an optimized version of Fisher-Yates:

/* Randomize array in-place using Durstenfeld shuffle algorithm */
function shuffleArray(array) {
    for (var i = array.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
        var j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
        var temp = array[i];
        array[i] = array[j];
        array[j] = temp;
    }
}

It picks a random element for each original array element, and excludes it from the next draw, like picking randomly from a deck of cards.

This clever exclusion swaps the picked element with the current one, then picks the next random element from the remainder, looping backwards for optimal efficiency, ensuring the random pick is simplified (it can always start at 0), and thereby skipping the final element.

Algorithm runtime is O(n). Note that the shuffle is done in-place so if you don't want to modify the original array, first make a copy of it with .slice(0).

---

EDIT: Updating to ES6 / ECMAScript 2015

The new ES6 allows us to assign two variables at once. This is especially handy when we want to swap the values of two variables, as we can do it in one line of code. Here is a shorter form of the same function, using this feature.

function shuffleArray(array) {
    for (let i = array.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
        const j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
        [array[i], array[j]] = [array[j], array[i]];
    }
}

Answer 3

Warning!
The use of this algorithm is not recommended, because it is inefficient and strongly biased; see comments. It is being left here for future reference, because the idea is not that rare.

[1,2,3,4,5,6].sort( () => .5 - Math.random() );

---

This https://javascript.info/array-methods#shuffle-an-array tutorial explains the differences straightforwardly.

Answer 4

You can do it easily with map and sort:

let unshuffled = ['hello', 'a', 't', 'q', 1, 2, 3, {cats: true}]

let shuffled = unshuffled
  .map((a) => ({sort: Math.random(), value: a}))
  .sort((a, b) => a.sort - b.sort)
  .map((a) => a.value)

1. We put each element in the array in an object, and give it a random sort key
2. We sort using the random key
3. We unmap to get the original objects

You can shuffle polymorphic arrays, and the sort is as random as Math.random, which is good enough for most purposes.

Since the elements are sorted against consistent keys that are not regenerated each iteration, and each comparison pulls from the same distribution, any non-randomness in the distribution of Math.random is canceled out.

Speed

Time complexity is O(N log N), same as quick sort. Space complexity is O(N). This is not as efficient as a Fischer Yates shuffle but, in my opinion, the code is significantly shorter and more functional. If you have a large array you should certainly use Fischer Yates. If you have a small array with a few hundred items, you might do this.

Answer 5

One could (or should) use it as a protoype from Array:

From ChristopheD:

Array.prototype.shuffle = function() {
  var i = this.length, j, temp;
  if ( i == 0 ) return this;
  while ( --i ) {
     j = Math.floor( Math.random() * ( i + 1 ) );
     temp = this[i];
     this[i] = this[j];
     this[j] = temp;
  }
  return this;
}

Answer 6

Use the underscore.js library. The method _.shuffle() is nice for this case. Here is an example with the method:

var _ = require("underscore");

var arr = [1,2,3,4,5,6];
// Testing _.shuffle
var testShuffle = function () {
  var indexOne = 0;
    var stObj = {
      '0': 0,
      '1': 1,
      '2': 2,
      '3': 3,
      '4': 4,
      '5': 5
    };
    for (var i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
      arr = _.shuffle(arr);
      indexOne = _.indexOf(arr, 1);
      stObj[indexOne] ++;
    }
    console.log(stObj);
};
testShuffle();

Answer 7

NEW!

Shorter & probably *faster Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm

1. it uses while---
2. bitwise to floor (numbers up to 10 decimal digits (32bit))
3. removed unecessary closures & other stuff

---

function fy(a,b,c,d){//array,placeholder,placeholder,placeholder
 c=a.length;while(c)b=Math.random()*(--c+1)|0,d=a[c],a[c]=a[b],a[b]=d
}

script size (with fy as function name): 90bytes

DEMO http://jsfiddle.net/vvpoma8w/

*faster probably on all browsers except chrome.

If you have any questions just ask.

EDIT

yes it is faster

PERFORMANCE: http://jsperf.com/fyshuffle

using the top voted functions.

EDIT There was a calculation in excess (don't need --c+1) and noone noticed

shorter(4bytes)&faster(test it!).

function fy(a,b,c,d){//array,placeholder,placeholder,placeholder
 c=a.length;while(c)b=Math.random()*c--|0,d=a[c],a[c]=a[b],a[b]=d
}

Caching somewhere else var rnd=Math.random and then use rnd() would also increase slightly the performance on big arrays.

http://jsfiddle.net/vvpoma8w/2/

Readable version (use the original version. this is slower, vars are useless, like the closures & ";", the code itself is also shorter ... maybe read this How to 'minify' Javascript code , btw you are not able to compress the following code in a javascript minifiers like the above one.)

function fisherYates( array ){
 var count = array.length,
     randomnumber,
     temp;
 while( count ){
  randomnumber = Math.random() * count-- | 0;
  temp = array[count];
  array[count] = array[randomnumber];
  array[randomnumber] = temp
 }
}

Answer 8

Shuffle Array In place

    function shuffleArr (array){
        for (var i = array.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
            var rand = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
            [array[i], array[rand]] = [array[rand], array[i]]
        }
    }

ES6 Pure, Iterative

    const getShuffledArr = arr => {
        const newArr = arr.slice()
        for (let i = newArr.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
            const rand = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
            [newArr[i], newArr[rand]] = [newArr[rand], newArr[i]];
        }
        return newArr
    };

---

Reliability and Performance Test

Some solutions on this page aren't reliable (they only partially randomise the array). Other solutions are significantly less efficient. With testShuffleArrayFun (see below) we can test array shuffling functions for reliability and performance.

    function testShuffleArrayFun(getShuffledArrayFun){
        const arr = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]

        var countArr = arr.map(el=>{
            return arr.map(
                el=> 0
            )
        }) //   For each possible position in the shuffledArr and for 
           //   each possible value, we'll create a counter. 
        const t0 = performance.now()
        const n = 1000000
        for (var i=0 ; i<n ; i++){
            //   We'll call getShuffledArrayFun n times. 
            //   And for each iteration, we'll increment the counter. 
            var shuffledArr = getShuffledArrayFun(arr)
            shuffledArr.forEach(
                (value,key)=>{countArr[key][value]++}
            )
        }
        const t1 = performance.now()
        console.log(`Count Values in position`)
        console.table(countArr)

        const frequencyArr = countArr.map( positionArr => (
            positionArr.map(  
                count => count/n
            )
        )) 

        console.log("Frequency of value in position")
        console.table(frequencyArr)
        console.log(`total time: ${t1-t0}`)
    }

---

Other Solutions

Other solutions just for fun.

ES6 Pure, Recursive

    const getShuffledArr = arr => {
        if (arr.length === 1) {return arr};
        const rand = Math.floor(Math.random() * arr.length);
        return [arr[rand], ...getShuffledArr(arr.filter((_, i) => i != rand))];
    };

ES6 Pure using array.map

    function getShuffledArr (arr){
        return [...arr].map( (_, i, arrCopy) => {
            var rand = i + ( Math.floor( Math.random() * (arrCopy.length - i) ) );
            [arrCopy[rand], arrCopy[i]] = [arrCopy[i], arrCopy[rand]]
            return arrCopy[i]
        })
    }

ES6 Pure using array.reduce

    function getShuffledArr (arr){
        return arr.reduce( 
            (newArr, _, i) => {
                var rand = i + ( Math.floor( Math.random() * (newArr.length - i) ) );
                [newArr[rand], newArr[i]] = [newArr[i], newArr[rand]]
                return newArr
            }, [...arr]
        )
    }

Answer 9

Edit: This answer is incorrect

See comments and https://stackoverflow.com/a/18650169/28234. It is being left here for reference because the idea isn't rare.

---

A very simple way for small arrays is simply this:

const someArray = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

someArray.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);

It's probably not very efficient, but for small arrays this works just fine. Here's an example so you can see how random (or not) it is, and whether it fits your usecase or not.

const resultsEl = document.querySelector('#results');
const buttonEl = document.querySelector('#trigger');

const generateArrayAndRandomize = () => {
  const someArray = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9];
  someArray.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);
  return someArray;
};

const renderResultsToDom = (results, el) => {
  el.innerHTML = results.join(' ');
};

buttonEl.addEventListener('click', () => renderResultsToDom(generateArrayAndRandomize(), resultsEl));

<h1>Randomize!</h1>
<button id="trigger">Generate</button>
<p id="results">0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9</p>

Answer 10

Adding to @Laurens Holsts answer. This is 50% compressed.

function shuffleArray(d) {
  for (var c = d.length - 1; c > 0; c--) {
    var b = Math.floor(Math.random() * (c + 1));
    var a = d[c];
    d[c] = d[b];
    d[b] = a;
  }
  return d
};

Answer 11

With ES2015 you can use this one:

Array.prototype.shuffle = function() {
  let m = this.length, i;
  while (m) {
    i = (Math.random() * m--) >>> 0;
    [this[m], this[i]] = [this[i], this[m]]
  }
  return this;
}

Usage:

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].shuffle();

Answer 12

//one line solution
shuffle = (array) => array.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);


//Demo
let arr = [1, 2, 3];
shuffle(arr);
alert(arr);

https://javascript.info/task/shuffle

Math.random() - 0.5 is a random number that may be positive or negative, so the sorting function reorders elements randomly.

Answer 13

I found this variant hanging out in the "deleted by author" answers on a duplicate of this question. Unlike some of the other answers that have many upvotes already, this is:

1. Actually random
2. Not in-place (hence the shuffled name rather than shuffle)
3. Not already present here with multiple variants

Here's a jsfiddle showing it in use.

Array.prototype.shuffled = function() {
  return this.map(function(n){ return [Math.random(), n] })
             .sort().map(function(n){ return n[1] });
}

Answer 14

var shuffle = function(array) {
   temp = [];
   originalLength = array.length;
   for (var i = 0; i < originalLength; i++) {
     temp.push(array.splice(Math.floor(Math.random()*array.length),1));
   }
   return temp;
};

Answer 15

Here is the EASIEST one,

function shuffle(array) {
  return array.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);
}

for further example, you can check it here

Answer 16

A recursive solution:

function shuffle(a,b){
    return a.length==0?b:function(c){
        return shuffle(a,(b||[]).concat(c));
    }(a.splice(Math.floor(Math.random()*a.length),1));
};

Answer 17

Fisher-Yates shuffle in javascript. I'm posting this here because the use of two utility functions (swap and randInt) clarifies the algorithm compared to the other answers here.

function swap(arr, i, j) { 
  // swaps two elements of an array in place
  var temp = arr[i];
  arr[i] = arr[j];
  arr[j] = temp;
}
function randInt(max) { 
  // returns random integer between 0 and max-1 inclusive.
  return Math.floor(Math.random()*max);
}
function shuffle(arr) {
  // For each slot in the array (starting at the end), 
  // pick an element randomly from the unplaced elements and
  // place it in the slot, exchanging places with the 
  // element in the slot. 
  for(var slot = arr.length - 1; slot > 0; slot--){
    var element = randInt(slot+1);
    swap(arr, element, slot);
  }
}

Answer 18

Modern short inline solution using ES6 features:

['a','b','c','d'].map(x => [Math.random(), x]).sort(([a], [b]) => a - b).map(([_, x]) => x);

(for educational purposes)

Answer 19

First of all, have a look here for a great visual comparison of different sorting methods in javascript.

Secondly, if you have a quick look at the link above you'll find that the random order sort seems to perform relatively well compared to the other methods, while being extremely easy and fast to implement as shown below:

function shuffle(array) {
  var random = array.map(Math.random);
  array.sort(function(a, b) {
    return random[array.indexOf(a)] - random[array.indexOf(b)];
  });
}

Edit: as pointed out by @gregers, the compare function is called with values rather than indices, which is why you need to use indexOf. Note that this change makes the code less suitable for larger arrays as indexOf runs in O(n) time.

Answer 20

All the other answers are based on Math.random() which is fast but not suitable for cryptgraphic level randomization.

The below code is using the well known Fisher-Yates algorithm while utilizing Web Cryptography API for cryptographic level of randomization.

var d = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10];

function shuffle(a) {
	var x, t, r = new Uint32Array(1);
	for (var i = 0, c = a.length - 1, m = a.length; i < c; i++, m--) {
		crypto.getRandomValues(r);
		x = Math.floor(r / 65536 / 65536 * m) + i;
		t = a [i], a [i] = a [x], a [x] = t;
	}

	return a;
}

console.log(shuffle(d));

Answer 21

a shuffle function that doesn't change the source array

Update: Here I'm suggesting a relatively simple (not from complexity perspective) and short algorithm that will do just fine with small sized arrays, but it's definitely going to cost a lot more than the classic Durstenfeld algorithm when you deal with huge arrays. You can find the Durstenfeld in one of the top replies to this question.

Original answer:

If you don't wish your shuffle function to mutate the source array, you can copy it to a local variable, then do the rest with a simple shuffling logic.

function shuffle(array) {
  var result = [], source = array.concat([]);

  while (source.length) {
    let index = Math.floor(Math.random() * source.length);
    result.push(source[index]);
    source.splice(index, 1);
  }

  return result;
}

Shuffling logic: pick up a random index, then add the corresponding element to the result array and delete it from the source array copy. Repeat this action until the source array gets empty.

And if you really want it short, here's how far I could get:

function shuffle(array) {
  var result = [], source = array.concat([]);

  while (source.length) {
    let index = Math.floor(Math.random() * source.length);
    result.push(source.splice(index, 1)[0]);
  }

  return result;
}

Answer 22

benchmarks

Let's first see the results then we'll look at each implementation of shuffle below -

• 

• 

• 

---

splice is slow

Any solution using splice or shift in a loop is going to be very slow. Which is especially noticeable when we increase the size of the array. In a naive algorithm we -

1. get a rand position, i, in the input array, t
2. add t[i] to the output
3. splice position i from array t

To exaggerate the slow effect, we'll demonstrate this on an array of one million elements. The following script almost 30 seconds -

const shuffle = t =>
  Array.from(sample(t, t.length))

function* sample(t, n)
{ let r = Array.from(t)
  while (n > 0 && r.length)
  { const i = rand(r.length) // 1
    yield r[i]               // 2
    r.splice(i, 1)           // 3
    n = n - 1
  }
}

const rand = n =>
  Math.floor(Math.random() * n)

function swap (t, i, j)
{ let q = t[i]
  t[i] = t[j]
  t[j] = q
  return t
}

const size = 1e6
const bigarray = Array.from(Array(size), (_,i) => i)
console.time("shuffle via splice")
const result = shuffle(bigarray)
console.timeEnd("shuffle via splice")
document.body.textContent = JSON.stringify(result, null, 2)

body::before {
  content: "1 million elements via splice";
  font-weight: bold;
  display: block;
}

---

pop is fast

The trick is not to splice and instead use the super efficient pop. To do this, in place of the typical splice call, you -

1. select the position to splice, i
2. swap t[i] with the last element, t[t.length - 1]
3. add t.pop() to the result

Now we can shuffle one million elements in less than 100 milliseconds -

const shuffle = t =>
  Array.from(sample(t, t.length))

function* sample(t, n)
{ let r = Array.from(t)
  while (n > 0 && r.length)
  { const i = rand(r.length) // 1
    swap(r, i, r.length - 1) // 2
    yield r.pop()            // 3
    n = n - 1
  }
}

const rand = n =>
  Math.floor(Math.random() * n)

function swap (t, i, j)
{ let q = t[i]
  t[i] = t[j]
  t[j] = q
  return t
}

const size = 1e6
const bigarray = Array.from(Array(size), (_,i) => i)
console.time("shuffle via pop")
const result = shuffle(bigarray)
console.timeEnd("shuffle via pop")
document.body.textContent = JSON.stringify(result, null, 2)

body::before {
  content: "1 million elements via pop";
  font-weight: bold;
  display: block;
}

---

even faster

The two implementations of shuffle above produce a new output array. The input array is not modified. This is my preferred way of working however you can increase the speed even more by shuffling in place.

Below shuffle one million elements in less than 10 milliseconds -

function shuffle (t)
{ let last = t.length
  let n
  while (last > 0)
  { n = rand(last)
    swap(t, n, --last)
  }
}

const rand = n =>
  Math.floor(Math.random() * n)

function swap (t, i, j)
{ let q = t[i]
  t[i] = t[j]
  t[j] = q
  return t
}

const size = 1e6
const bigarray = Array.from(Array(size), (_,i) => i)
console.time("shuffle in place")
shuffle(bigarray)
console.timeEnd("shuffle in place")
document.body.textContent = JSON.stringify(bigarray, null, 2)

body::before {
  content: "1 million elements in place";
  font-weight: bold;
  display: block;
}

Answer 23

You can do it easily with:

// array
var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
// random
fruits.sort(function(a, b){return 0.5 - Math.random()});
// out
console.log(fruits);

Please reference at JavaScript Sorting Arrays

Answer 24

Using Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm and ES6:

// Original array
let array = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];

// Create a copy of the original array to be randomized
let shuffle = [...array];

// Defining function returning random value from i to N
const getRandomValue = (i, N) => Math.floor(Math.random() * (N - i) + i);

// Shuffle a pair of two elements at random position j
shuffle.forEach( (elem, i, arr, j = getRandomValue(i, arr.length)) => [arr[i], arr[j]] = [arr[j], arr[i]] );

console.log(shuffle);
// ['d', 'a', 'b', 'c']

Answer 25

yet another implementation of Fisher-Yates, using strict mode:

function shuffleArray(a) {
    "use strict";
    var i, t, j;
    for (i = a.length - 1; i > 0; i -= 1) {
        t = a[i];
        j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
        a[i] = a[j];
        a[j] = t;
    }
    return a;
}

Answer 26

A simple modification of CoolAJ86's answer that does not modify the original array:

 /**
 * Returns a new array whose contents are a shuffled copy of the original array.
 * @param {Array} The items to shuffle.
 * https://stackoverflow.com/a/2450976/1673761
 * https://stackoverflow.com/a/44071316/1673761
 */
const shuffle = (array) => {
  let currentIndex = array.length;
  let temporaryValue;
  let randomIndex;
  const newArray = array.slice();
  // While there remains elements to shuffle...
  while (currentIndex) {
    randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * currentIndex);
    currentIndex -= 1;
    // Swap it with the current element.
    temporaryValue = newArray[currentIndex];
    newArray[currentIndex] = newArray[randomIndex];
    newArray[randomIndex] = temporaryValue;
  }
  return newArray;
};

Answer 27

We're still shuffling arrays in 2019, so here goes my approach, which seems to be neat and fast to me:

const src = [...'abcdefg'];

const shuffle = arr => 
  [...arr].reduceRight((res,_,__,s) => 
    (res.push(s.splice(0|Math.random()*s.length,1)[0]), res),[]);

console.log(shuffle(src));

.as-console-wrapper {min-height: 100%}

Answer 28

Randomize array

 var arr = ['apple','cat','Adam','123','Zorro','petunia']; 
 var n = arr.length; var tempArr = [];

 for ( var i = 0; i < n-1; i++ ) {

    // The following line removes one random element from arr 
     // and pushes it onto tempArr 
     tempArr.push(arr.splice(Math.floor(Math.random()*arr.length),1)[0]);
 }

 // Push the remaining item onto tempArr 
 tempArr.push(arr[0]); 
 arr=tempArr; 

Answer 29

the shortest arrayShuffle function

function arrayShuffle(o) {
    for(var j, x, i = o.length; i; j = parseInt(Math.random() * i), x = o[--i], o[i] = o[j], o[j] = x);
    return o;
}

Answer 30

Though there are a number of implementations already advised but I feel we can make it shorter and easier using forEach loop, so we don't need to worry about calculating array length and also we can safely avoid using a temporary variable.

var myArr = ["a", "b", "c", "d"];

myArr.forEach((val, key) => {
  randomIndex = Math.ceil(Math.random()*(key + 1));
  myArr[key] = myArr[randomIndex];
  myArr[randomIndex] = val;
});
// see the values
console.log('Shuffled Array: ', myArr)