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C#/.NET - generate unique random numbers

12 points
Created by:
Root-ssh
174740

There is couple of ways to generate unique random numbers in C#/.NET.

1. Array with custom shuffling example

public static class RandomUtils
{
	public static int[] generateUniqueNumbers(int minValue, int maxValue)
	{
		if (minValue > maxValue)
			throw new ArgumentException("Minimal value cannot be bigger than maximal value.");

		int[] values = new int[maxValue - minValue + 1];

		for (int i = 0; i < values.Length; ++i)
			values[i] = minValue + i;

		Random random = new Random();

		for (int i = 0; i < values.Length; ++i)
		{
			int index = random.Next(values.Length);

			if (i == index)
				continue;

			int tmp = values[i];

			values[i] = values[index];
			values[index] = tmp;
		}

		return values;
	}
}

Example:

int[] ranges = {
	// min, max,
	 5, 15,
	-4,  4
};

for(int i = 0; i < ranges.Length; i += 2)
{
	int minValue = ranges[i + 0];
	int maxValue = ranges[i + 1];

	int[] values = RandomUtils.generateUniqueNumbers(minValue, maxValue);

	Console.WriteLine("Random unique values from " + minValue + " to " + maxValue + ": ");

	foreach (int entry in values)
		Console.Write(entry + " ");

	Console.WriteLine();
	Console.WriteLine();
}

Output:

Random unique values from 5 to 15:
14 8 15 7 5 6 10 9 13 11 12

Random unique values from -4 to +4:
0 -4 4 1 -3 2 3 -1 -2

2. Array.Sort method based example

public static class RandomUtils
{
	public static int[] generateUniqueNumbers(int minValue, int maxValue)
	{
		if (minValue > maxValue)
			throw new ArgumentException("Minimal value cannot be bigger than maximal value.");

		int[] values = new int[maxValue - minValue + 1];

		for (int i = 0; i < values.Length; ++i)
			values[i] = minValue + i;

		Random random = new Random();

		Array.Sort(values, (a, b) => random.Next(-1, 2));

		return values;
	}
}

Example:

int[] ranges = {
	// min, max,
	 5, 15,
	-4,  4
};

for(int i = 0; i < ranges.Length; i += 2)
{
	int minValue = ranges[i + 0];
	int maxValue = ranges[i + 1];

	int[] values = RandomUtils.generateUniqueNumbers(minValue, maxValue);

	Console.WriteLine("Random unique values from " + minValue + " to " + maxValue + ": ");

	foreach (int entry in values)
		Console.Write(entry + " ");

	Console.WriteLine();
	Console.WriteLine();
}

Output:

Random unique values from 5 to 15:
6 5 7 10 8 11 9 12 13 14 15

Random unique values from -4 to 4:
-3 -4 -2 1 -1 0 4 2 3

3 Enumerable.Range + Enumerable.OrgedBy methods based example

public static class RandomUtils
{
	public static int[] generateUniqueNumbers(int minValue, int maxValue)
	{
		if (minValue > maxValue)
			throw new ArgumentException("Minimal value cannot be bigger than maximal value.");

		Random random = new Random();

		int[] values = Enumerable.Range(minValue, maxValue - minValue + 1)
			.OrderBy((a) => random.Next(-1, 2))
			.ToArray();

		return values;
	}
}

Example:

int[] ranges = {
	// min, max,
	 5, 15,
	-4,  4
};

for(int i = 0; i < ranges.Length; i += 2)
{
	int minValue = ranges[i + 0];
	int maxValue = ranges[i + 1];

	int[] values = RandomUtils.generateUniqueNumbers(minValue, maxValue);

	Console.WriteLine("Random unique values from " + minValue + " to " + maxValue + ": ");

	foreach (int entry in values)
		Console.Write(entry + " ");

	Console.WriteLine();
	Console.WriteLine();
}

Output:

Random unique values from 5 to 15:
5 7 8 9 11 13 14 6 10 12 15

Random unique values from -4 to 4:
-3 0 -2 -1 1 2 4 -4 3

4. HashSet class based example

public static class RandomUtils
{
	public static int[] generateUniqueNumbers(int minValue, int maxValue)
	{
		if (minValue > maxValue)
			throw new ArgumentException("Minimal value cannot be bigger than maximal value.");

		Random random = new Random();
		HashSet<int> values = new HashSet<int>(maxValue - minValue + 1);

		for (int i = minValue; i < maxValue;)
		{
			int value = random.Next(minValue, maxValue + 1);

			if(values.Add(value))
				i += 1;
		}

		return values.ToArray();
	}
}

Example:

int[] ranges = {
	// min, max,
	 5, 15,
	-4,  4
};

for(int i = 0; i < ranges.Length; i += 2)
{
	int minValue = ranges[i + 0];
	int maxValue = ranges[i + 1];

	int[] values = RandomUtils.generateUniqueNumbers(minValue, maxValue);

	Console.WriteLine("Random unique values from " + minValue + " to " + maxValue + ": ");

	foreach (int entry in values)
		Console.Write(entry + " ");

	Console.WriteLine();
	Console.WriteLine();
}

Output:

Random unique values from 5 to 15:
5 14 8 11 10 12 9 13 7 6

Random unique values from -4 to 4:
1 -4 -2 2 3 0 -1 -3
Note: generating random unique values with HashSet could take in most worse case much more iterations than number of expected numbers.

References

  1. Array.Sort Method - Microsoft Docs
  2. Enumerable.OrderBy Method - Microsoft Docs
  3. HashSet<T> Class - Microsoft Docs
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C# / .NET - random

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