Random number generation and shuffling

Paul Hudson      @twostraws

SE-0202 introduced a new random API that’s native to Swift. This means you can for the most part stop using arc4random_uniform() and GameplayKit to get randomness, and instead rely on a cryptographically secure randomizer that’s baked right into the core of the language.

You can generate random numbers by calling the random() method on whatever numeric type you want, providing the range you want to work with. For example, this generates a random number in the range 1 through 4, inclusive on both sides:

let randomInt = Int.random(in: 1..<5)

Similar methods exist for Float, Double, and CGFloat:

let randomFloat = Float.random(in: 1..<10)
let randomDouble = Double.random(in: 1...100)
let randomCGFloat = CGFloat.random(in: 1...1000)

There’s also one for booleans, generating either true or false randomly:

let randomBool = Bool.random()

Checking a random boolean is effectively the same as checking Int.random(in: 0...1) == 1, but it expresses your intent more clearly.

SE-0202 also includes support for shuffling arrays using new shuffle() and shuffled() methods depending on whether you want in-place shuffling or not. For example:

var albums = ["Red", "1989", "Reputation"]

// shuffle in place
albums.shuffle()

// get a shuffled array back
let shuffled = albums.shuffled()

It also adds a new randomElement() method to arrays, which returns one random element from the array if it isn’t empty, or nil otherwise:

if let random = albums.randomElement() {
    print("The random album is \(random).")
}

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Other changes in Swift 4.2…

• Derived collections of enum cases
• Warning and error diagnostic directives
• Dynamic member look up
• Enhanced conditional conformances
• Simpler, more secure hashing
• Checking sequence elements match a condition
• In-place collection element removal
• Boolean toggling

Download all Swift 4.2 changes as a playground Link to Swift 4.2 changes

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