Array :An array is a group of similar elements or data items of the same type collected at contiguous memory locations. In simple words, we can say that in computer programming, arrays are generally used to organize the same type of data.
Representation of an Array:
Arrays can be represented in several ways, depending on the different languages. To make you understand, we can take one example of the C language. The picture below shows the representation of the array.
Representation of the array
Arrays always store the same type of values.
Declaration Syntax of Array:
VariableType VariableName[Sequence of Elements];
Example 1: For integral value
int A[10];
Here 10 means, this array A can have 10 integer elements.
2 5 8 44 21 11 7 9 3 1
Example 2: For character value
char B[10];
This array B can have 10 character elements.
f d a b n j l s e y
Initialization of an Array:
If an array is described inside a function, the elements will have garbage value. And in case an array is static or global, its elements will be initialized automatically to 0.
We can say that we can simply initialize elements of an array at the time of declaration and for that, we have to use the proper syntax:
Syntax: datatype Array_Name[size] = { value1, value2, value3, ….. valueN };
Types of Arrays:
There are two types of arrays:
One-Dimensional Arrays
Multi-Dimensional Arrays
One -Dimensional Arrays
A one-dimensional array is a kind of linear array. It involves single sub-scripting. The [] (brackets) is used for the subscript of the array and to declare and access the elements from the array.
Syntax: DataType ArrayName [size];
For example: int a[10];
Multi-Dimensional Arrays
In multi-dimensional arrays, we have two categories:
Two-Dimensional Arrays
Three-Dimensional Arrays
1. Two-Dimensional Arrays
An array involving two subscripts [] [] is known as a two-dimensional array. They are also known as the array of the array. Two-dimensional arrays are divided into rows and columns and are able to handle the data of the table.
Syntax: DataType ArrayName[row_size][column_size];
For Example: int arr[5][5];
2. Three-Dimensional Arrays
When we require to create two or more tables of the elements to declare the array elements, then in such a situation we use three-dimensional arrays.
Syntax: DataType ArrayName[size1][size2][size3];
For Example: int a[5][5][5];
