[VB.NET] Useful Types for Card Games

[jmcilhinney]

Edit: I just remembered that there's a VB 2005 starter kit for a card game so this is probably redundant. Users of previous version can still download the starter kit and open the code files, even if they can't open the project. If anyone has a specific desire for me to continue with this then by all means say so, otherwise I might just leave it.

Below is some rough code for some types that can form the basis of any card game. They are as yet unfinsihed but I thought I'd post them anyway. I will be making improvements to them myself soon, but feel free to use the code yourself and make your own improvents in the mean time. I intend to create a project that incorporates the Windows cards.dll (or is it cards32.dll, can't remember) at some stage in the future also.

Public Enum Face
    None 'Used for Jokers
    Ace
    Two
    Three
    Four
    Five
    Six
    Seven
    Eight
    Nine
    Ten
    Jack
    Queen
    King
End Enum
 
Public Enum Suit
    None 'Used for Jokers
    Hearts
    Clubs
    Diamonds
    Spades
End Enum

Public Structure Card
 
    Private m_Face As Face
    Private m_Suit As Suit
 
    Public ReadOnly Property Face() As Face
        Get
            Return Me.m_Face
        End Get
    End Property
 
    Public ReadOnly Property Suit() As Suit
        Get
            Return Me.m_Suit
        End Get
    End Property
 
    Public ReadOnly Property IsJoker() As Boolean
        Get
            Return Me.m_Face = Face.None AndAlso Me.m_Suit = Suit.None
        End Get
    End Property
 
    Public Sub New(ByVal face As Face, ByVal suit As Suit)
        If face = face.None Xor suit = suit.None Then
            Throw New ApplicationException("If either face or suit is None then the other must also be None.")
        Else
            Me.m_Face = face
            Me.m_Suit = suit
        End If
    End Sub
 
End Structure

Public Class Hand
    Inherits CollectionBase
 
    Default Public Property Item(ByVal index As Integer) As Card
        Get
            Return CType(Me.InnerList(index), Card)
        End Get
        Set(ByVal Value As Card)
            Me.InnerList(index) = Value
        End Set
    End Property
 
    Public Function Add(ByVal card As Card) As Integer
        Return Me.InnerList.Add(card)
    End Function
 
    Public Sub Insert(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal card As Card)
        Me.InnerList.Insert(index, card)
    End Sub
 
End Class

Public Class Deck
 
    Private cards As Hand 'The cards currently in the deck.
    Private rand As Random 'Used to generate random numbers.
 
    Public ReadOnly Property Count() As Integer
        Get
            Return Me.cards.Count
        End Get
    End Property
 
    Public Sub New()
        Me.cards = New Hand
 
        'Create a full deck with no Jokers.
        For Each suit As Suit In [Enum].GetValues(GetType(Suit))
            If suit <> suit.None Then
                For Each face As Face In [Enum].GetValues(GetType(Face))
                    If face <> face.None Then
                        Me.cards.Add(New Card(face, suit))
                    End If
                Next face
            End If
        Next suit
 
        Me.rand = New Random
    End Sub
 
    Public Sub Shuffle()
        Dim shuffledCards As New Hand
 
        While Me.cards.Count > 0
            Dim index As Integer = Me.rand.Next(0, Me.cards.Count)
 
            'Add a card at random to the new deck from the existing deck.
            shuffledCards.Add(Me.cards(index))
 
            'Remove the chosen card from the existing deck.
            Me.cards.RemoveAt(index)
        End While
 
        Me.cards = shuffledCards
    End Sub
 
    Public Sub Cut(ByVal upperCount As Integer)
        'Move the first upperCount cards to the bottom.
        For i As Integer = 1 To upperCount
            Me.cards.Add(Me.cards(0))
            Me.cards.RemoveAt(0)
        Next i
    End Sub
 
    'Returns the next card without removing it from the deck.
    Public Function PeekNextCard() As Card
        Return Me.cards(0)
    End Function
 
    'Returns the next card and removes it from the deck.
    Public Function GetNextCard() As Card
        Dim nextCard As Card = Me.cards(0)
 
        Me.cards.RemoveAt(0)
        Return nextCard
    End Function
 
    'Returns the specified number of hands, each with the specified number of cards.
    Public Function Deal(ByVal handCount As Integer, ByVal cardCount As Integer) As Hand()
        Dim hands(handCount - 1) As Hand
 
        For i As Integer = 1 To cardCount Step 1
            For Each hand As Hand In hands
                hand.Add(Me.GetNextCard)
            Next hand
        Next i
 
        Return hands
    End Function
 
End Class