Arrays

CS10001: Programming & Data Structures

Pabitra Mitra
Dept. of Computer Sc. & Engg.,
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

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 Array

• Many applications require multiple data items that have

common characteristics.
– In mathematics, we often express such groups of data items in
indexed form:
• x1, x2, x3, …, xn

• Array is a data structure which can represent a

collection of data items which have the same data type
(float/int/char)

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 Example: Finding Minima of Numbers

3 numbers 4 numbers

if ((a <= b) && (a <= c)) if ((a <= b) && (a <= c) && (a <= d))
min = a; min = a;
else else
if (b <= c) if ((b <= c) && (b <= d))
min = b; min = b;
else else
min = c; if (c <= d)
min = c;
else
min = d;

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 The Problem

• Suppose we have 10 numbers to handle.

• Or 20.
• Or 100.
• Where do we store the numbers ? Use 100 variables ??
• How to tackle this problem?

• Solution:
– Use arrays.

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 Using Arrays

• All the data items constituting the group share

the same name.
int x[10];

• Individual elements are accessed by specifying

the index.

x[0] x[1] x[2] x[9]

X is a 10-element one
dimensional array
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 Declaring Arrays

• Like variables, the arrays that are used in a program must be

declared before they are used.
• General syntax:
type array-name [size];

– type specifies the type of element that will be contained

in the array (int, float, char, etc.)
– size is an integer constant which indicates the maximum
number of elements that can be stored inside the array.

int marks[5];
– marks is an array containing a maximum of 5 integers.

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 • Examples:
int x[10];
char line[80];
float points[150];
char name[35];
• If we are not sure of the exact size of the array, we can define an
array of a large size.
int marks[50];
though in a particular run we may only be using, say, 10 elements.

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 How an array is stored in memory?

• Starting from a given memory location, the successive array

elements are allocated space in consecutive memory locations.

Array a

• x: starting address of the array in memory

• k: number of bytes allocated per array element
– a[i] Î is allocated memory location at address x + i*k

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 Accessing Array Elements

• A particular element of the array can be accessed by specifying

two things:
– Name of the array.
– Index (relative position) of the element in the array.
• In C, the index of an array starts from zero.
• Example:
– An array is defined as int x[10];
– The first element of the array x can be accessed as x[0], fourth
element as x[3], tenth element as x[9], etc.

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 Contd.

• The array index must evaluate to an integer between 0 and n-1

where n is the number of elements in the array.
a[x+2] = 25;
b[3*x-y] = a[10-x] + 5;

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 A Warning

• In C, while accessing array elements, array bounds are not

checked.

• Example:
int marks[5];
:
:
marks[8] = 75;
– The above assignment would not necessarily cause an error.
– Rather, it may result in unpredictable program results.

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 Initialization of Arrays

• General form:
type array_name[size] = { list of values };
• Examples:
int marks[5] = {72, 83, 65, 80, 76};
char name[4] = {‘A’, ‘m’, ‘i’, ‘t’};
• Some special cases:
– If the number of values in the list is less than the
number of elements, the remaining elements are
automatically set to zero.
float total[5] = {24.2, -12.5, 35.1};
Î total[0]=24.2, total[1]=-12.5, total[2]=35.1, total[3]=0,
total[4]=0

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 Contd.

– The size may be omitted. In such cases the compiler

automatically allocates enough space for all initialized
elements.

int flag[ ] = {1, 1, 1, 0};

char name[ ] = {‘A’, ‘m’, ‘i’, ‘t’};

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 Character Arrays and Strings

char C[8] = { 'a', 'b', 'h', 'i', 'j', 'i', 't', '\0' };

• C[0] gets the value 'a', C[1] the value 'b', and so on. The last (7th) location
receives the null character ‘\0’.

• Null-terminated character arrays are also called strings.

• Strings can be initialized in an alternative way. The last declaration is

equivalent to:

char C[8] = "abhijit";

• The trailing null character is missing here. C automatically puts it at the

end.

• Note also that for individual characters, C uses single quotes, whereas for
strings, it uses double quotes.

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 Example 1: Find the minimum of a set of 10 numbers

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
int a[10], i, min;

for (i=0; i<10; i++)

scanf (“%d”, &a[i]);

min = 99999;
for (i=0; i<10; i++)
{
if (a[i] < min)
min = a[i];
}
printf (“\n Minimum is %d”, min);
}
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 Alternate Version 1 #include <stdio.h>
#define size 10

main()
{
int a[size], i, min;

for (i=0; i<size; i++)

Change only one scanf (“%d”, &a[i]);
line to change the
problem size min = 99999;
for (i=0; i<size; i++)
{
if (a[i] < min)
min = a[i];
}
printf (“\n Minimum is %d”, min);
}
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 #include <stdio.h>
Alternate Version 2
main()
{
int a[100], i, min, n;

scanf (“%d”, &n); /* Number of elements */

for (i=0; i<n; i++)
Define an array of scanf (“%d”, &a[i]);
large size and use
only the required min = 99999;
number of elements for (i=0; i<n; i++)
{
if (a[i] < min)
min = a[i];
}
printf (“\n Minimum is %d”, min);
}

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 Example 2: #include <stdio.h>
Computing gpa #define nsub 6

main()
{
int grade_pt[nsub], cred[nsub], i,
gp_sum=0, cred_sum=0, gpa;

for (i=0; i<nsub; i++)

scanf (“%d %d”, &grade_pt[i], &cred[i]);
Handling two arrays
at the same time for (i=0; i<nsub; i++)
{
gp_sum += grade_pt[i] * cred[i];
cred_sum += cred[i];
}
gpa = gp_sum / cred_sum;
printf (“\n Grade point average: is %d”, gpa);
}
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 Things you cannot do

• You cannot
– use = to assign one array variable to another
a = b; /* a and b are arrays */
– use == to directly compare array variables
if (a = = b) ………..
– directly scanf or printf arrays
printf (“……”, a);

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 How to copy the elements of one array to another?

• By copying individual elements

for (j=0; j<25; j++)
a[j] = b[j];

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 How to read the elements of an array?

• By reading them one element at a time

for (j=0; j<25; j++)
scanf (“%f”, &a[j]);
• The ampersand (&) is necessary.
• The elements can be entered all in one line or in different lines.

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 How to print the elements of an array?

• By printing them one element at a time.

for (j=0; j<25; j++)
printf (“\n %f”, a[j]);
– The elements are printed one per line.
printf (“\n”);
for (j=0; j<25; j++)
printf (“ %f”, a[j]);
– The elements are printed all in one line (starting with a new
line).

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 Two Dimensional Arrays

• We have seen that an array variable can store a list of

values.
• Many applications require us to store a table of values.

Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 Subject 4 Subject 5

Student 1 75 82 90 65 76
Student 2 68 75 80 70 72
Student 3 88 74 85 76 80
Student 4 50 65 68 40 70

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 Contd.

• The table contains a total of 20 values, five in each line.

– The table can be regarded as a matrix consisting of four rows
and five columns.
• C allows us to define such tables of items by using
two-dimensional arrays.

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 Declaring 2-D Arrays

• General form:
type array_name [row_size][column_size];
• Examples:
int marks[4][5];
float sales[12][25];
double matrix[100][100];

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 Accessing Elements of a 2-D Array

• Similar to that for 1-D array, but use two indices.

– First indicates row, second indicates column.
– Both the indices should be expressions which evaluate to
integer values.
• Examples:
x[m][n] = 0;
c[i][k] += a[i][j] * b[j][k];
a = sqrt (a[j*3][k]);

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 How is a 2-D array is stored in memory?

• Starting from a given memory location, the elements

are stored row-wise in consecutive memory locations.
• x: starting address of the array in memory
• c: number of columns
• k: number of bytes allocated per array element
– a[i][j] Î is allocated memory location at
address x + (i * c + j) * k

a[0]0] a[0][1] a[0]2] a[0][3] a[1][0] a[1][1] a[1][2] a[1][3] a[2][0] a[2][1] a[2][2] a[2][3]

Row 0 Row 1 Row 2

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 How to read the elements of a 2-D array?

• By reading them one element at a time

for (i=0; i<nrow; i++)
for (j=0; j<ncol; j++)
scanf (“%f”, &a[i][j]);
• The ampersand (&) is necessary.
• The elements can be entered all in one line or in
different lines.

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 How to print the elements of a 2-D array?

• By printing them one element at a time.

for (i=0; i<nrow; i++)
for (j=0; j<ncol; j++)
printf (“\n %f”, a[i][j]);
– The elements are printed one per line.

for (i=0; i<nrow; i++)

for (j=0; j<ncol; j++)
printf (“%f”, a[i][j]);
– The elements are all printed on the same line.

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 Contd.

for (i=0; i<nrow; i++)

{
printf (“\n”);
for (j=0; j<ncol; j++)
printf (“%f ”, a[i][j]);
}
– The elements are printed nicely in matrix form.

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 Example: Matrix Addition

#include <stdio.h> for (p=0; p<m; p++)

for (q=0; q<n; q++)
main() c[p]q] = a[p][q] + b[p][q];
{
int a[100][100], b[100][100], for (p=0; p<m; p++)
c[100][100], p, q, m, n; {
printf (“\n”);
scanf (“%d %d”, &m, &n); for (q=0; q<n; q++)
printf (“%f ”, a[p][q]);
for (p=0; p<m; p++)
for (q=0; q<n; q++) }
scanf (“%d”, &a[p][q]); }

for (p=0; p<m; p++)

for (q=0; q<n; q++)
scanf (“%d”, &b[p][q]);
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 Some Exercise Problems to Try Out

• Find the mean and standard deviation of a set of n

numbers.
• A shop stores n different types of items. Given the
number of items of each type sold during a given
month, and the corresponding unit prices, compute the
total monthly sales.
• Multiple two matrices of orders mxn and nxp
respectively.

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 Passing Arrays to Function

• Array element can be passed to functions as ordinary

arguments.
• IsFactor (x[i], x[0])
• sin (x[5])

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 Passing Entire Array to a Function

• An array name can be used as an argument to a function.

– Permits the entire array to be passed to the function.
– The way it is passed differs from that for ordinary variables.
• Rules:
– The array name must appear by itself as argument, without
brackets or subscripts.
– The corresponding formal argument is written in the same
manner.
• Declared by writing the array name with a pair of empty
brackets.

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 Whole array as Parameters

#define ASIZE 5
float average (int a[]) {
int i, total=0;
for (i=0; i<ASIZE; i++)
total = total + a[i];
return ((float) total / (float) ASIZE);
}

main ( ) {
int x[ASIZE] ; float x_avg;
x = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50}
x_avg = average (x) ;
}

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 Contd.

main()
{
int n;
We don’t need to write float list[100], avg;
the array size. It works :
with arrays of any size. avg = average (n, list);
:
}

float average (a, x)

int a;
float x[];
{
:
sum = sum + x[i];
}

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 Arrays as Output Parameters

void VectorSum (int a[], int b[], int vsum[], int length) {
int i;
for (i=0; i<length; i=i+1)
vsum[i] = a[i] + b[i] ;
}
int main (void) {
int x[3] = {1,2,3}, y[3] = {4,5,6}, z[3];
VectorSum (x, y, z, 3) ;
PrintVector (z, 3) ;
}
void PrintVector (int a[], int length) {
int i;
for (i=0; i<length; i++) printf (“%d “, a[i]);
}

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 The Actual Mechanism

• When an array is passed to a function, the values of the

array elements are not passed to the function.
– The array name is interpreted as the address of the first
array element.
– The formal argument therefore becomes a pointer to the
first array element.
– When an array element is accessed inside the function,
the address is calculated using the formula stated
before.
– Changes made inside the function are thus
also reflected in the calling program.

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 Contd.

• Passing parameters in this way is called

call-by-reference.
• Normally parameters are passed in C using
call-by-value.
• Basically what it means?
– If a function changes the values of array elements, then these
changes will be made to the original array that is passed to the
function.
– This does not apply when an individual element is passed on
as argument.

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 Passing 2-D Arrays

• Similar to that for 1-D arrays.

– The array contents are not copied into the function.
– Rather, the address of the first element is passed.
• For calculating the address of an element in a 2-D
array, we need:
– The starting address of the array in memory.
– Number of bytes per element.
– Number of columns in the array.
• The above three pieces of information must be known
to the function.

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 Example Usage

#include <stdio.h> void add (x, y, rows, cols)

int x[][25], y[][25];
main() int rows, cols;
{ {
int a[15][25], b[15]25]; :
: }
:
add (a, b, 15, 25);
:
} We can also write
int x[15][25], y[15][25];

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