- Array Declaration
- Fundamental Operations on a One-dimensional Array
- Array Initialization in its Declaration
- Example: Add two integer arrays
Array Declaration
A one-dimensional array is a structured collection of components (often called array elements) that can be accessed individually by specifying the position of a component with a single index value.
Here is the syntax template of a one-dimensional array declaration:
Data_Type Array_Name [Const_Int_Expression];
In the syntax template,
- Data_Type describes what is stored in each component of the array. This may be any type, but for now we limit our discussion to simple data types (e.g. integral and floating types).
- Const_Int_Expression indicates the size of the array declared. That is, it specifies the number of array components in the array. It must have a value greater than 0. If the value is n, the range of the index values is 0 to n-1.
For example, the declaration
int number[50];
creates the number
array which has 50 components, each capable of
holding one int
value. In other words, the number
array has a total of 50 components, all of type int
.
Fundamental Operations on a One-dimensional Array
Now let's look at how to access individual components of an array.
The syntax template for accessing an array component is
Array_Name[Index_Expression]
The index expression must result in an integer value. It can be of type
char
, short
, int
,
long
, or bool
value because these are
all integral types. The simplest form of index expression is a constant.
For example:
number[0] specifies the 1st component of the number array
number[1] specifies the 2nd component of the number array
number[2] specifies the 3rd component of the number array
number[3] specifies the 4th component of the number array
number[4] specifies the 5th component of the number array
.
.
.
number[48] specifies the 2nd last component of the number array
number[49] specifies the last component of the number array
To store values in the number
array, we can do the following:
Each array element can be treated as a simple variable. Here, an integer
value is assigned to each array element, which has been declared to hold
data type int
.
To use the values stored in the number
array, we can treat each
array element as a simple variable of data type int
. For
example:
For the number
array, the valid index range is from 0 to 49. If
the IndexExpression results in a value less than 0 or greater than the
array_size minus 1, then the index is considered to be
out-of-bounds
. For instance, number[50]
is
trying to access a memory
location outside of the number
array.
Array Initialization in its Declaration
A variable can be initialized in its declaration. For example:
int value = 25;
The value 25
is called an initializer.
Similarly, an array can be initialized in its declaration. A list of initial
values for array elements can be specified. They are separated with commas
and enclosed within braces. For example:
int age[5] = {23, 56, 87, 92, 38};
In this declaration, age[0]
is initialized to 23,
age[1]
is initialized to 56, and so on. There must be at least
one initial value between braces. If too many initial values are specified,
a syntax error will occur. If the number of initial values is less
than the array size, the remaining array elements will be initialized to zero.
In C++, the array size can be omitted when it is initialized in the declaration. For example:
int age[] = {23, 56, 87, 92, 38, 12, 15, 6, 3};
The compiler determines the size of the age
array
according to how many initial values are listed. Here, the size of
the age array is 9.
Example:
This program adds two integer arrays and displays the arrays.