Is there a way to shuffle an array so that no two consecutive values are the same?

Question

I have an array of colors that will populate a pie chart to act as a game spinner. I don\'t want the same colors to appear next to each other, making one huge chunk in the c

Answer 1

Disclaimer: In order to generate a "random" solution I am going to use backtracking. This approach is NOT fast and is NOT cheap by a space point of view.

Infact both Time And Space Complexity are O(n!)... and this is HUGE!

However it gives you a valid solution as random as possible.

Backtracking

So you want a random combination of a list of values with the condition that the solution is valid if there are not be 2 consecutive equals elements.

In order to have a real random solution I suggest the following approach.

I generate every possible valid combination. For this I'm using a backtracking approach

func combinations(unusedElms: [Element], sequence:[Element] = []) -> [[Element]] {
    // continue if the current sequence doesn't contain adjacent equal elms
    guard !Array(zip(sequence.dropFirst(), sequence)).contains(==) else { return [] }
    
    // continue if there are more elms to add
    guard !unusedElms.isEmpty else { return [sequence] }
    
    // try every possible way of completing this sequence
    var results = [[Element]]()
    for i in 0..

Now given a list of colors

let colors = ["blue", "red", "green", "red", "blue", "blue", "blue", "green"]

I can generate every valid possible combination

let combs = combinations(colors)

[["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "red", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["blue", "red", "blue", "red", "green", "blue", "green", "blue"], …, ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"], ["green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"]]

Finally I just need to pick one of these combinations

let comb = combs[Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(combs.count)))]
// ["red", "blue", "green", "blue", "green", "blue", "red", "blue"]

Improvements

If you don't need a true random solution, but simply a permutation that doesn't have 2 consecutive equal elements we can change the previous function in order to return the first valid solution.

func combination(unusedElms: [Element], sequence:[Element] = []) -> [Element]? {
    guard !Array(zip(sequence.dropFirst(), sequence)).contains(==) else { return nil }
    guard !unusedElms.isEmpty else { return sequence }
    
    for i in 0..

Now you can simply write

combination(["blue", "red", "green", "red", "blue", "blue", "blue", "green"])

to get a valid solution (if it does exists)

["blue", "red", "green", "blue", "red", "blue", "green", "blue"]

This approach can be much faster (when the solution does exist) however the worst case scenario is still O(n!) for both space and time complexity.