Use the modern version of the Fisher–Yates shuffle algorithm:
/**
* Shuffles array in place.
* @param {Array} a items An array containing the items.
*/
function shuffle(a) {
var j, x, i;
for (i = a.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
x = a[i];
a[i] = a[j];
a[j] = x;
}
return a;
}
/**
* Shuffles array in place. ES6 version
* @param {Array} a items An array containing the items.
*/
function shuffle(a) {
for (let i = a.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
const j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
[a[i], a[j]] = [a[j], a[i]];
}
return a;
}
Note however, that swapping variables with destructuring assignment causes significant performance loss, as of October 2017.
var myArray = ['1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9'];
shuffle(myArray);
Using Object.defineProperty
(method taken from this SO answer) we can also implement this function as a prototype method for arrays, without having it show up in loops such as for (i in arr)
. The following will allow you to call arr.shuffle()
to shuffle the array arr
:
Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype, 'shuffle', {
value: function() {
for (let i = this.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
const j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
[this[i], this[j]] = [this[j], this[i]];
}
return this;
}
});