The simplest way to shuffle an array in JavaScript is to provide a custom function to a .sort().
array.sort((a, b) => 0.5 - Math.random());But the best way to shuffle an array and have a truly random distribution of items, you have to implement the Fisher-Yates algorithm.
const shuffleArray = array => {
for (let i = array.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
const j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
const temp = array[i];
array[i] = array[j];
array[j] = temp;
}
}Shuffle Array JavaScript Example
Complete HTML example codes:
Simple way
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<script>
function shuffle(array) {
array.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);
}
let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
shuffle(arr);
alert(arr);
</script>
</body>
</html>Output:
The Fisher-Yates algorithm
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<script>
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;
}
return array;
}
var arr = [1,2,3,4,5];
console.log(shuffleArray(arr));
</script>
</body>
</html>Output:
How to Shuffle an Array and Return a New One in JS
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<script>
function shuffleArray(array) {
var copy = [].concat(array);
copy.sort(function(){
return 0.5 - Math.random();
});
console.log(copy);
}
var original = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g'];
shuffleArray(original);
console.log(original);
</script>
</body>
</html>Output:
Do comment if you have any doubts and suggestions on this JS Array topic.
Note: The All JS Examples codes are tested on the Firefox browser and the Chrome browser.
OS: Windows 10
Code: HTML 5 Version