How to shuffle a Collection?

user_5330548 0
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I know about Collections.shuffle(), however it requires a List. I'd like to shuffle a Collection instead.

Collection<Town> towns = getAllTowns();

What would be the best way to do this?

shuffle collections java
2 Answers

It's not really possible - the Collection abstraction does not define an order, for example a set is Collection, and ordering is not defined on sets, thus shuffling them doesn't make sense.

You should convert your Collection to a list (if it is not a list already) and then shuffle it. See also: How to convert a Collection to List?

user_161264130

Collections can't necessarily be reordered, for example a Set. Therefore, you cannot shuffle an arbitrary Collection.

user_160725430
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