Arrays are fundamental structures in programming that allow you to store multiple values of the same type in a single container. In Java, arrays are objects that offer indexed access to their elements.
Understanding single and multidimensional arrays enables you to manage and organize data more efficiently, particularly for tasks involving grids, matrices, and collections of records.
An array is a container object that holds a fixed number of values of a single type. The length of an array is established when the array is created. After creation, its length is fixed.
Arrays are zero-indexed in Java, meaning the first element is accessed with index 0.
Understand the basics of arrays in Java with practical examples.
public class SingleArray {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] numbers = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
System.out.println("Element at index " + i + ": " + numbers[i]);
}
}
}
public class MultiArray {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[][] matrix = {
{1, 2, 3},
{4, 5, 6},
{7, 8, 9}
};
for (int i = 0; i < matrix.length; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < matrix[i].length; j++) {
System.out.print(matrix[i][j] + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
}
}
Arrays are used to store and process large sets of data efficiently for statistical analysis and computation.
Multidimensional arrays are commonly used to create grids and maps in 2D games.
2D arrays are fundamental in implementing mathematical operations like matrix addition and multiplication.
No, the size of an array in Java is fixed after it is created. You would need to create a new array and copy elements to it for resizing.
For numeric types, it is 0; for boolean, it is false; and for object references, it is null.
Java implements multidimensional arrays as arrays of arrays, meaning each row is an independent array object.