Scribd
Upload
50 views

Durstenfeld's Algorithm: We Start With All 7 Items. We Randomly Switch The 4 and 7 Items

Durstenfeld's Algorithm is an efficient method to randomly organize a vector of elements such as songs in a playlist without repetition. It works by iteratively choosing a random number r between 1 and the number of remaining elements n, and swapping the rth element with the nth element, then repeating for the remaining n-1 elements. This randomizes the order with each iteration.

Uploaded by

Nicolas Abou Fayssal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
50 views

Durstenfeld's Algorithm: We Start With All 7 Items. We Randomly Switch The 4 and 7 Items

Durstenfeld's Algorithm is an efficient method to randomly organize a vector of elements such as songs in a playlist without repetition. It works by iteratively choosing a random number r between 1 and the number of remaining elements n, and swapping the rth element with the nth element, then repeating for the remaining n-1 elements. This randomizes the order with each iteration.

Uploaded by

Nicolas Abou Fayssal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Durstenfeld’s Algorithm 

Durstenfeld’s Algorithm is an efficient method to randomly organize a vector of elements.  It might be 
used to randomize, for example, the play list on your iPod without repeating a song. 

The steps below outline an example using the seven dwarves. 

Doc
Grumpy
We start with all 7 items.  
Happy
We randomly switch the 
Sleepy
4th and 7th items. 
Bashful
Sneezy
Dopey  
The first step is to choose a random number r between 1 and 7 (inclusive).  Let’s say we pick r = 4 
(obviously, this will vary and that’s what makes this a random process).  You could use Excel’s 
RandBetween function.  We then swap the 4th and the 7th rows to create the following. 

Doc
Grumpy Now we focus on the 
Happy remaining 6 items.  We 
Dopey randomly switch the 2nd 
and 6th positions. 
Bashful
Sneezy
Sleepy  

Next, we will choose a random number between 1 and 6 (so “Sleepy” is set for good in the 7th position).  
Let’s say we get r = 2.  Again, this will be random.  We now swap the second item with the 6th item to 
obtain the following: 

Doc
Sneezy
Happy
Dopey
Bashful
Grumpy
Sleepy                           
And we keep going, choosing a random number between 1 and 5 (my example uses r = 1 so we swap 
rows 1 and 5), then a random number between 1 and 4 (my example uses r = 1 again so we swap rows 1 
and 4), then a random number between 1 and 3 (my example uses r = 2 so we swap rows 2 and 3), and 
finally a random number between 1 and 2 (inclusive, my example uses 2, so we swap rows 2 and 2 – this 
does nothing).  The figure below depicts what is happening as we do this. 
Doc Bashful Dopey Dopey Dopey
Sneezy Sneezy Sneezy Happy Happy
Happy Happy Happy Sneezy Sneezy
Dopey Dopey Bashful Bashful Bashful
Bashful Doc Doc Doc Doc
Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy
Sleepy         Sleepy                Sleepy        Sleepy     Sleepy    
 

The approach is to count the number of elements to be randomized (let’s call this n), then iterate 
through an index variable (let’s call this j).  You may have noticed a pattern that emerges in a count‐
controlled iteration (think For…Next loop!).  If we use an index j then we always choose a random 
number between 1 and (n – j + 1) (convince yourself of this as j goes from 1 to 7).  Second, we always 
swap the (n – j + 1)th element with our randomly assigned element. 

Swapping is easy in VBA.  If I wanted to swap element A(2) with A(5) you could just do the following: 
temp = A(2)
A(2) = A(5)
A(5) = temp
 

You might also like