std::ranges::shuffle

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Algorithm library

Constrained algorithms and algorithms on ranges (C++20)
Constrained algorithms, e.g. ranges::copy, ranges::sort, ...
Execution policies (C++17)
is_execution_policy (C++17)	execution::seqexecution::parexecution::par_unseqexecution::unseq (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++20)	execution::sequenced_policyexecution::parallel_policyexecution::parallel_unsequenced_policyexecution::parallel_unsequenced (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++20)
Non-modifying sequence operations
all_ofany_ofnone_of (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) for_each for_each_n (C++17)	countcount_if mismatch equal adjacent_find	search search_n lexicographical_compare lexicographical_compare_three_way (C++20)	findfind_iffind_if_not (C++11) find_end find_first_of
Modifying sequence operations
copycopy_if (C++11) copy_n (C++11) copy_backward move (C++11) move_backward (C++11) shift_leftshift_right (C++20)(C++20) transform	fill fill_n generate generate_n swap iter_swap swap_ranges sample (C++17)	removeremove_if replacereplace_if reverse rotate unique random_shuffle (until C++17)	remove_copyremove_copy_if replace_copyreplace_copy_if reverse_copy rotate_copy unique_copy shuffle (C++11)
Partitioning operations
is_partitioned (C++11) partition_point (C++11)	partition partition_copy (C++11)	stable_partition
Sorting operations
is_sorted (C++11) is_sorted_until (C++11)	sort stable_sort	partial_sort partial_sort_copy	nth_element
Binary search operations
lower_bound	upper_bound	binary_search	equal_range
Set operations (on sorted ranges)
merge inplace_merge	set_difference set_intersection	set_symmetric_difference set_union	includes
Heap operations
is_heap (C++11) is_heap_until (C++11)	make_heap sort_heap	push_heap pop_heap
Minimum/maximum operations
max max_element	min min_element	minmax (C++11) minmax_element (C++11)	clamp (C++17)
Permutations
is_permutation (C++11)	next_permutation	prev_permutation
Numeric operations
iota (C++11) inner_product adjacent_difference	accumulate reduce (C++17) transform_reduce (C++17)	transform_inclusive_scan (C++17) transform_exclusive_scan (C++17)	partial_sum inclusive_scan (C++17) exclusive_scan (C++17)
Operations on uninitialized storage
uninitialized_copy uninitialized_move (C++17) uninitialized_fill	uninitialized_copy_n (C++11) uninitialized_move_n (C++17) uninitialized_fill_n	uninitialized_default_construct (C++17) uninitialized_value_construct (C++17) uninitialized_default_construct_n (C++17) uninitialized_value_construct_n (C++17)	destroy (C++17) destroy_n (C++17) destroy_at (C++17) construct_at (C++20)
C library
qsort	bsearch

 

Constrained algorithms

Non-modifying sequence operations
ranges::all_ofranges::any_ofranges::none_of ranges::for_each ranges::for_each_n ranges::lexicographical_compare      ranges::adjacent_find	ranges::countranges::count_if ranges::mismatch ranges::equal ranges::containsranges::contains_subrange (C++23)(C++23)	ranges::findranges::find_ifranges::find_if_not ranges::find_lastranges::find_last_ifranges::find_last_if_not (C++23)(C++23)(C++23)	ranges::find_end ranges::find_first_of ranges::search ranges::search_n ranges::starts_with (C++23) ranges::ends_with (C++23)
Modifying sequence operations
ranges::copyranges::copy_if ranges::copy_n ranges::copy_backward ranges::move ranges::move_backward ranges::shift_leftranges::shift_right (C++23)(C++23)   ranges::transform	ranges::fill ranges::fill_n ranges::generate ranges::generate_n ranges::swap_ranges ranges::shuffle ranges::sample	ranges::removeranges::remove_if ranges::replaceranges::replace_if ranges::reverse ranges::rotate ranges::unique	ranges::remove_copyranges::remove_copy_if ranges::replace_copyranges::replace_copy_if ranges::reverse_copy ranges::rotate_copy ranges::unique_copy
Partitioning operations
ranges::is_partitioned ranges::partition_point	ranges::partition ranges::partition_copy	ranges::stable_partition
Sorting operations
ranges::is_sorted ranges::is_sorted_until	ranges::sort ranges::stable_sort	ranges::partial_sort ranges::partial_sort_copy	ranges::nth_element
Binary search operations
ranges::lower_bound	ranges::upper_bound	ranges::binary_search	ranges::equal_range
Set operations (on sorted ranges)
ranges::merge ranges::inplace_merge	ranges::set_difference ranges::set_intersection	ranges::set_symmetric_difference    ranges::set_union	ranges::includes
Heap operations
ranges::is_heap ranges::is_heap_until	ranges::make_heap ranges::sort_heap	ranges::push_heap ranges::pop_heap
Minimum/maximum operations
ranges::max ranges::max_element	ranges::min ranges::min_element	ranges::minmax ranges::minmax_element	ranges::clamp
Permutations
ranges::is_permutation	ranges::next_permutation	ranges::prev_permutation
Constrained numeric operations
ranges::iota (C++23)
Fold operations
ranges::fold_left (C++23) ranges::fold_left_first (C++23)	ranges::fold_right (C++23) ranges::fold_right_last (C++23)	ranges::fold_left_with_iter (C++23) ranges::fold_left_first_with_iter (C++23)
Operations on uninitialized storage
ranges::construct_at ranges::destroy ranges::destroy_n ranges::destroy_at	ranges::uninitialized_copy    ranges::uninitialized_move ranges::uninitialized_fill	ranges::uninitialized_copy_n    ranges::uninitialized_move_n ranges::uninitialized_fill_n	ranges::uninitialized_default_construct ranges::uninitialized_default_construct_n    ranges::uninitialized_value_construct ranges::uninitialized_value_construct_n
Return types
ranges::in_fun_result ranges::in_in_result ranges::in_found_result	ranges::in_out_result ranges::in_in_out_result	ranges::in_out_out_result ranges::min_max_result	ranges::out_value_result (C++23) ranges::in_value_result (C++23)

 

Defined in header <algorithm>
Call signature
template< std::random_access_iterator I, std::sentinel_for<I> S, class Gen > requires  std::permutable<I> &&           std::uniform_random_bit_generator<std::remove_reference_t<Gen>> I shuffle( I first, S last, Gen&& gen );	(1)	(since C++20)
template< ranges::random_access_range R, class Gen > requires  std::permutable<ranges::iterator_t<R>> &&           std::uniform_random_bit_generator<std::remove_reference_t<Gen>> ranges::borrowed_iterator_t<R> shuffle( R&& r, Gen&& gen );	(2)	(since C++20)

1) Reorders the elements in the given range [first, last) such that each possible permutation of those elements has equal probability of appearance.

2) Same as (1), but uses r as the range, as if using ranges::begin(r) as first and ranges::end(r) as last.

The function-like entities described on this page are niebloids, that is:

• Explicit template argument lists may not be specified when calling any of them.
• None of them is visible to argument-dependent lookup.
• When one of them is found by normal unqualified lookup for the name to the left of the function-call operator, it inhibits argument-dependent lookup.

In practice, they may be implemented as function objects, or with special compiler extensions.

Parameters

first, last	-	the range of elements to shuffle randomly
r	-	the range of elements to shuffle randomly
gen	-	the random number generator

Return value

An iterator equal to last.

Complexity

Exactly (last - first) - 1 swaps.

Possible implementation

struct shuffle_fn { template<std::random_access_iterator I, std::sentinel_for<I> S, class Gen> requires std::permutable<I> && std::uniform_random_bit_generator<std::remove_reference_t<Gen>> I operator()( I first, S last, Gen&& gen ) const { using diff_t = std::iter_difference_t<I>; using distr_t = std::uniform_int_distribution<diff_t>; using param_t = typename distr_t::param_type; distr_t D; const auto n{ last - first }; for (diff_t i{1}; i < n; ++i) { ranges::iter_swap(first + i, first + D(gen, param_t(0, i))); } return ranges::next(first, last); }   template<ranges::random_access_range R, class Gen> requires std::permutable<ranges::iterator_t<R>> && std::uniform_random_bit_generator<std::remove_reference_t<Gen>> ranges::borrowed_iterator_t<R> operator()( R&& r, Gen&& gen ) const { return (*this)(ranges::begin(r), ranges::end(r), std::forward<Gen>(gen)); } };   inline constexpr shuffle_fn shuffle{};

Example

Run this code

#include <algorithm>
#include <array>
#include <iostream>
#include <random>
 
void print(const auto& a) {
    for (const auto e : a) { std::cout << e << ' '; }
    std::cout << "\n";
}
 
int main()
{
    std::array a{'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F'};
    print(a);
 
    std::random_device rd;
    std::mt19937 gen{rd()};
 
    for (int i{}; i != 3; ++i) {
        std::ranges::shuffle(a, gen);
        print(a);
    }
}

Possible output:

A B C D E F
F E A C D B
E C B F A D
B A E C F D

See also

ranges::next_permutation (C++20)	generates the next greater lexicographic permutation of a range of elements (niebloid)
ranges::prev_permutation (C++20)	generates the next smaller lexicographic permutation of a range of elements (niebloid)
random_shuffleshuffle (until C++17)(C++11)	randomly re-orders elements in a range (function template)