HashMap: iterating the key-value pairs in random order

Question

I have a HashMap and I\'d like to iterate they key-value pairs in a different random order each time i get the iterator. Conceptually I\'d like to \"shuffle\" the map before

Answer 1

Try use concurent hash map and get key by random before iteration cycle

Map<String, String> map = Maps.newConcurrentMap();

        map.put("1", "1");
        map.put("2", "2");
        Iterator<String> iterator = map.keySet().iterator();
        while (iterator.hasNext()) {
            map.remove("2");// add random key values
            map.put("2", "2");
            String next = iterator.next();
            System.out.println("next" + next);
        }

Random remove/put values can "shuffle" your map

Answer 2

Reshuffling a large collection is always going to be expensive. You are going to need at least one reference per entry. e.g. for 1 million entries you will need approx 4 MB.

Note; the shuffle operation is O(N)

I would use

Map<K,V> map = 
List<Map.Entry<K,V>> list = new ArrayList<Map.Entry<K,V>>(map.entrySet());

// each time you want a different order.
Collections.shuffle(list);
for(Map.Entry<K, V> entry: list) { /* ... */ }

Answer 3

Actually you do not need to shuffle at all:
Just draw a random index in an array of keys and remove the key by overwritting with the last:

public class RandomMapIterator<K,V> implements Iterator<V> {

private final Map<K,V> map;
private final K[] keys;

private int keysCount;

@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public RandomMapIterator(Map<K,V> map) {
    this.map = map;
    this.keys = (K[]) map.keySet().toArray();
    this.keysCount = keys.length;
}

@Override
public boolean hasNext() {
    return keysCount!=0;
}

@Override
public V next() {
    int index = nextIndex();
    K key = keys[index];
    keys[index] = keys[--keysCount];
    return map.get(key);
}

protected int nextIndex() {
    return (int)(Math.random() * keysCount);
}

@Override
public void remove() {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
}

}