How to distribute cards until the entire card stack/pack is distributed based on shuffling/random numbers, with a click of a button?

Question

I am creating my first card game, and need to shuffle the cards. So for starters, I have created a shuffle button for a sample stack of 4 values with the line:

int i = arc4random() % 4;
NSLog(@"%d", i);

Shuffling works well, but I want this button to allow the user to distribute random cards until there are no more cards in the stack. Each time I click this sample button, I need NSLoged result to be something like 3, then 1, then 0, then 2, then "No more cards", for example (instead of a list of four random numbers and a message).

Is there a simple way to "distribute a number" randomly with each click of a button?

Also, does arc4random generate real random numbers or pseudo-random numbers? I have read a lot of threads about it, and it doesn't seem so clear. What would be the best way to randomize numbers?

Answer 1

You can create an array with all the possible elements in the random space, for example:

NSMutableArray *randomNumber = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithObjects:[NSNumber numberWithInt:0], [NSNumber numberWithInt:1],[NSNumber numberWithInt:2],[NSNumber numberWithInt:3], nil];

Then, you take randomly elements of the array, and you remove them after:

for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++){

int randIndex = arc4random()%[randomNumber count];
NSLog(@" %d %d", randIndex, [[randomNumber objectAtIndex:randIndex] intValue]);
[randomNumber removeObjectAtIndex:randIndex];
}