Objective-c – What’s the Best Way to Shuffle an NSMutableArray

cocoaobjective cshuffle

If you have an NSMutableArray, how do you shuffle the elements randomly?

(I have my own answer for this, which is posted below, but I'm new to Cocoa and I'm interested to know if there is a better way.)

Update: As noted by @Mukesh, as of iOS 10+ and macOS 10.12+, there is an -[NSMutableArray shuffledArray] method that can be used to shuffle. See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsarray/1640855-shuffledarray?language=objc for details. (But note that this creates a new array, rather than shuffling the elements in place.)

Best Answer

I solved this by adding a category to NSMutableArray.

Edit: Removed unnecessary method thanks to answer by Ladd.

Edit: Changed (arc4random() % nElements) to arc4random_uniform(nElements) thanks to answer by Gregory Goltsov and comments by miho and blahdiblah

Edit: Loop improvement, thanks to comment by Ron

Edit: Added check that array is not empty, thanks to comment by Mahesh Agrawal

//  NSMutableArray_Shuffling.h

#if TARGET_OS_IPHONE
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#else
#include <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
#endif

// This category enhances NSMutableArray by providing
// methods to randomly shuffle the elements.
@interface NSMutableArray (Shuffling)
- (void)shuffle;
@end


//  NSMutableArray_Shuffling.m

#import "NSMutableArray_Shuffling.h"

@implementation NSMutableArray (Shuffling)

- (void)shuffle
{
    NSUInteger count = [self count];
    if (count <= 1) return;
    for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < count - 1; ++i) {
        NSInteger remainingCount = count - i;
        NSInteger exchangeIndex = i + arc4random_uniform((u_int32_t )remainingCount);
        [self exchangeObjectAtIndex:i withObjectAtIndex:exchangeIndex];
    }
}

@end

Related Solutions

Objective-c – Best way to remove from NSMutableArray while iterating

For clarity I like to make an initial loop where I collect the items to delete. Then I delete them. Here's a sample using Objective-C 2.0 syntax:

NSMutableArray *discardedItems = [NSMutableArray array];

for (SomeObjectClass *item in originalArrayOfItems) {
    if ([item shouldBeDiscarded])
        [discardedItems addObject:item];
}

[originalArrayOfItems removeObjectsInArray:discardedItems];

Then there is no question about whether indices are being updated correctly, or other little bookkeeping details.

Edited to add:

It's been noted in other answers that the inverse formulation should be faster. i.e. If you iterate through the array and compose a new array of objects to keep, instead of objects to discard. That may be true (although what about the memory and processing cost of allocating a new array, and discarding the old one?) but even if it's faster it may not be as big a deal as it would be for a naive implementation, because NSArrays do not behave like "normal" arrays. They talk the talk but they walk a different walk. See a good analysis here:

The inverse formulation may be faster, but I've never needed to care whether it is, because the above formulation has always been fast enough for my needs.

For me the take-home message is to use whatever formulation is clearest to you. Optimize only if necessary. I personally find the above formulation clearest, which is why I use it. But if the inverse formulation is clearer to you, go for it.

Objective-c – Best way to define private methods for a class in Objective-C

There isn't, as others have already said, such a thing as a private method in Objective-C. However, starting in Objective-C 2.0 (meaning Mac OS X Leopard, iPhone OS 2.0, and later) you can create a category with an empty name (i.e. @interface MyClass ()) called Class Extension. What's unique about a class extension is that the method implementations must go in the same @implementation MyClass as the public methods. So I structure my classes like this:

In the .h file:

@interface MyClass {
    // My Instance Variables
}

- (void)myPublicMethod;

@end

And in the .m file:

@interface MyClass()

- (void)myPrivateMethod;

@end

@implementation MyClass

- (void)myPublicMethod {
    // Implementation goes here
}

- (void)myPrivateMethod {
    // Implementation goes here
}

@end

I think the greatest advantage of this approach is that it allows you to group your method implementations by functionality, not by the (sometimes arbitrary) public/private distinction.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Objective-c – Best way to remove from NSMutableArray while iterating

Objective-c – Best way to define private methods for a class in Objective-C

Related Topic