Carddeck

Carddeck is a term that can refer to either a physical deck of playing cards used in games or, in computing and data processing contexts, a representation of such a deck in software or hardware. In traditional card games, a standard deck consists of 52 cards across four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Each suit contains the ranks from Ace through King. Many decks include Jokers as extra cards, used for certain games or as wild cards; some games, such as Euchre, use shorter decks, and specialty decks exist for games like pinochle or tarot. Dealing, shuffling, and cutting are common procedures for preparing a carddeck for play.

In computing, a carddeck can describe a data structure that models an ordered collection of cards. Typical operations include shuffle, draw or deal, and discard or remove. Implementations may use arrays or linked lists and rely on a pseudorandom number generator for shuffling. Carddeck representations support simulations of games, probability analysis, and AI opponents.

Historically, playing cards circulated widely in Europe by the 14th century and diversified into numerous regional deck designs. The standard 52-card deck with four suits became common in the 19th century, while Jokers were introduced in the 19th century for trick-taking games.

Related topics include playing cards, deck, shuffle algorithms, and card games.