Sorting a list into random order using linq

Posted written by Paul Seal on October 06, 2015 C#

Every now and again, there is a need to produce a list in a random order. 

I've found a very reliable way to do this using linq and the Guid class.

It might sound complicated, but when you see the example, it should make sense and you should see how simple it is.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
namespace PaulSeal.Library.Utility
{
    class Example
    {
        public List<int> GetRandomListOfNumbers()
        {
            List<int> results = new List<int>() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 };
            var sortedResults = from r in results orderby Guid.NewGuid() ascending select r;
            return sortedResults.ToList();
        }
    }
}

On the first line, we create the list of results which is in ascending order.

Then we select each record from the results, ordered by a new Guid each time. This is what gives the randomness.

Finally we return the list.