List cast to int in a Deck Shuffling program

Question

I'm currently trying to write my first program so my coding isn't nearly as knowledgeable as others...

I am trying to shuffle a deck of cards without using the exact code given in the Fischer-Yates method or at least my version of it...

My plan is to to assign the cards to an enum and that will assign them a number from 0-51. Then I set the cards in a list and remove the card from the list that the RNG generates. After the card is removed from the list the counter deletes one from the possible random numbers and I set the number to a temporary variable that I will then pass to a new list that will be the shuffled deck.

My issue is in finding code that will explicitly convert my first list to an int. I think I know how to remove from the first list using .RemoveAt. Will I need to make another conversion or can i store the Random Number I find into the shuffledDeck?

enum Cards
{
    AceSpade,
    TwoSpade,
    ThreeSpade,
    FourSpade,
    FiveSpade,
    SixSpade,
    SevenSpade,
    EightSpade,
    NineSpade,
    TenSpade,
    JackSpade,
    QueenSpade,
    KingSpade,
    AceHeart,
    TwoHeart,
    ThreeHeart,
    FourHeart,
    FiveHeart,
    SixHeart,
    SevenHeart,
    EightHeart,
    NineHeart,
    TenHeart,
    JackHeart,
    QueenHeart,
    KingHeart,
    AceDiamond,
    TwoDiamond,
    ThreeDiamond,
    FourDiamond,
    FiveDiamond,
    SixDiamond,
    SevenDiamond,
    EightDiamond,
    NineDiamond,
    TenDiamond,
    JackDiamond,
    QueenDiamond,
    KingDiamond,
    AceClub,
    TwoClub,
    ThreeClub,
    FourClub,
    FiveClub,
    SixClub,
    SevenClub,
    EightClub,
    NineClub,
    TenClub,
    JackClub,
    QueenClub,
    KingClub
}

class DeckShuffle
{
    static Random rndCard = new Random(DateTime.Now.Millisecond);
    int currentCard;
    int tempCard;
    int totalCards = 51;
    List<Cards> currentDeck = new List<Cards>();
    List<int> shuffledDeck = new List<int>();

    private void CardShuffler()
    {
        while (totalCards > -1)
        {
            tempCard = rndCard.Next(0, 51);
            totalCards--;
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

So you have a list of cards, currentDeck.

I'd recommend a for loop to have an integer value like:

List<Cards> currentDeck = new List<Cards>();
List<Cards> shuffledDeck = new List<Cards>();

for(int i = 0; i < currentDeck.Count - 1; i++) {
    //Grab a card, insert it into ShuffledDeck
    int randoNum = rndCard.Next(0, 51-i); //This will grab a new number between 1 and however many cards are left
    shuffledDeck.Add(currentDeck[randoNum]);
    currentDeck.RemoveAt(i);
}

This way, every loop as i increases, the number of cards left in currentDeck decreases, and we grab one, and add it to the shuffled deck.

---

Edit: I'd probably recommend creating a Card class though (if you're that far into learning C#) - each "Card" object would have a numeric value (1-13, 11 for Jack, 12 for Queen, 13 for King, etc) and a suit.

That'll make most card-based games a lot easier.