Generate a random permutation of 1 to N

Difficulty Level : Medium
Last Updated : 27 May, 2021

Given an integer N, the task is to generate N non-repeating random numbers.

Examples:

Input: N = 5
Output: 1 5 2 4 3
Input: N = 8
Output: 7 2 1 8 3 6 4 5

Approach: Create an array of N elements and initialize the elements as 1, 2, 3, 4, …, N then shuffle the array elements using Fisher-Yates shuffle Algorithm.

Fisher–Yates shuffle Algorithm works in O(n) time complexity. The assumption here is, we are given a function rand() that generates a random number in O(1) time.

The idea is to start from the last element, swap it with a randomly selected element from the whole array (including last). Now consider the array from 0 to n-2 (size reduced by 1), and repeat the process till we hit the first element.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ implementation of the approach
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Function to return the next random number
int getNum(vector<int>& v)
{
 
    // Size of the vector
    int n = v.size();
 
    // Generate a random number
    srand(time(NULL));
 
    // Make sure the number is within
    // the index range
    int index = rand() % n;
 
    // Get random number from the vector
    int num = v[index];
 
    // Remove the number from the vector
    swap(v[index], v[n - 1]);
    v.pop_back();
 
    // Return the removed number
    return num;
}
 
// Function to generate n non-repeating random numbers
void generateRandom(int n)
{
    vector<int> v(n);
 
    // Fill the vector with the values
    // 1, 2, 3, ..., n
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        v[i] = i + 1;
 
    // While vector has elements
    // get a random number from the vector and print it
    while (v.size()) {
        cout << getNum(v) << " ";
    }
}
 
// Driver code
int main()
{
    int n = 8;
    generateRandom(n);
 
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java implementation of the approach
import java.util.*;
import java.lang.Math;
 
class GfG
{
 
    // Function to return the next random number
    static int getNum(ArrayList<Integer> v)
    {
        // Size of the vector
        int n = v.size();
     
        // Make sure the number is within
        // the index range
        int index = (int)(Math.random() * n);
     
        // Get random number from the vector
        int num = v.get(index);
     
        // Remove the number from the vector
        v.set(index, v.get(n - 1));
        v.remove(n - 1);
     
        // Return the removed number
        return num;
    }
     
    // Function to generate n
    // non-repeating random numbers
    static void generateRandom(int n)
    {
        ArrayList<Integer> v = new ArrayList<>(n);
     
        // Fill the vector with the values
        // 1, 2, 3, ..., n
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
            v.add(i + 1);
     
        // While vector has elements
        // get a random number from the vector and print it
        while (v.size() > 0)
        {
            System.out.print(getNum(v) + " ");
        }
    }
 
    // Driver code
    public static void main(String []args)
    {
         
        int n = 8;
        generateRandom(n);
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Rituraj Jain

Python3

# Python3 implementation of the approach
 
# import random module
import random
 
# Function to return the next
# random number
def getNum(v) :
 
    # Size of the vector
    n = len(v)
 
    # Generate a random number within
    # the index range
    index = random.randint(0, n - 1)
 
    # Get random number from the vector
    num = v[index]
 
    # Remove the number from the vector
    v[index], v[n - 1] = v[n - 1], v[index]
    v.pop()
 
    # Return the removed number
    return num
 
# Function to generate n non-repeating
# random numbers
def generateRandom(n) :
     
    v = [0] * n
 
    # Fill the vector with the values
    # 1, 2, 3, ..., n
    for i in range(n) :
        v[i] = i + 1
 
    # While vector has elements get a 
    # random number from the vector
    # and print it
    while (len(v)) :
        print(getNum(v), end = " ")
 
# Driver code
if __name__ == "__main__" :
     
    n = 8
    generateRandom(n)
     
# This code is contributed by Ryuga

C#

// C# implementation of the approach
using System;
using System.Collections;
 
class GfG{
  
// Function to return the next random number
static int getNum(ArrayList v)
{
     
    // Size of the vector
    int n = v.Count;
     
    Random rand = new Random();
     
    // Make sure the number is within
    // the index range
    int index = (rand.Next() % n);
  
    // Get random number from the vector
    int num = (int)v[index];
  
    // Remove the number from the vector
    v[index] = (int)v[n - 1];
    v.Remove(v[n - 1]);
  
    // Return the removed number
    return num;
}
  
// Function to generate n
// non-repeating random numbers
static void generateRandom(int n)
{
    ArrayList v = new ArrayList(n);
     
    // Fill the vector with the values
    // 1, 2, 3, ..., n
    for(int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        v.Add(i + 1);
  
    // While vector has elements get a
    // random number from the vector
    // and print it
    while (v.Count > 0)
    {
        Console.Write(getNum(v) + " ");
    }
}
 
// Driver code
public static void Main(string []args)
{
    int n = 8;
     
    generateRandom(n);
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by rutvik_56

PHP

<?php
// PHP implementation of the approach
 
// Function to return the next random number
function getNum(&$v)
{
 
    // Size of the vector
    $n = sizeof($v);
 
    // Generate a random number
    srand(time(NULL));
 
    // Make sure the number is within
    // the index range
    $index = rand() % $n;
 
    // Get random number from the vector
    $num = $v[$index];
 
    // Remove the number from the vector
    $t = $v[$index];
    $v[$index] = $v[$n - 1];
    $v[$n - 1] = $t;
    array_pop($v);
 
    // Return the removed number
    return $num;
}
 
// Function to generate n non-repeating
// random numbers
function generateRandom($n)
{
    $v = array(0, $n, NULL);
 
    // Fill the vector with the values
    // 1, 2, 3, ..., n
    for ($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++)
        $v[$i] = $i + 1;
 
    // While vector has elements
    // get a random number from the
    // vector and print it
    while (sizeof($v))
    {
        echo getNum($v) . " ";
    }
}
 
// Driver code
$n = 8;
generateRandom($n);
 
// This code is contributed by ita_c
?>

Javascript

<script>
// Javascript implementation of the approach
 
// Function to return the next random number
function getNum(v)
{
        // Size of the vector
        let n = v.length;
      
        // Make sure the number is within
        // the index range
        let index = Math.floor(Math.random() % n);
          
        // Get random number from the vector
        let num = v[index];
      
        // Remove the number from the vector
        v[index] = v[n - 1];
        v.splice(n - 1,1);
      
        // Return the removed number
        return num;
}
 
// Function to generate n
// non-repeating random numbers
function generateRandom(n)
{
        let v = [];
      
        // Fill the vector with the values
        // 1, 2, 3, ..., n
        for (let i = 0; i < n; i++)
            v.push(i + 1);
      
        // While vector has elements
        // get a random number from the vector and print it
        while (v.length > 0)
        {
            document.write(getNum(v) + " ");
        }
}
 
// Driver code
let n = 8;
generateRandom(n);
 
 
// This code is contributed by rag2127
</script>

Output:

3 4 5 8 6 2 1 7

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