Faculty of Engineering & Technology

University of Lucknow
Lucknow

Data Structure Primer Using C

Subject Code: CS-301

Topic: Memory Address Calculation in an Array

Dr. Himanshu Pandey

REFERENCES :

1. Aaron M. Tenenbaum, YedidyahLangsam and Moshe J. Augenstein “Data Structures Using C and C++”, PHI
Learning Private Limited, Delhi India.
2. Horowitz and Sahani, “Fundamentals of Data Structures”, Galgotia Publications Pvt Ltd Delhi India.
3. A.K. Sharma ,Data Structure Using C, Pearson Education India.
4. Rajesh K. Shukla, “Data Structure Using C and C++” Wiley Dreamtech Publication.
5. Lipschutz, “Data Structures” Schaum’s Outline Series, Tata Mcgraw-hill Education (India) Pvt. Ltd .
6. Michael T. Goodrich, Roberto Tamassia, David M. Mount “Data Structures and Algorithms in C++”, Wiley
India.
7. P.S. Deshpandey, “C and Datastructure”, Wiley Dreamtech Publication.
8. R. Kruse etal, “Data Structures and Program Design in C”, Pearson Education.
9. Berztiss, A.T.: Data structures, Theory and Practice :, Academic Press.

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Memory Address Calculation in an Array

Address Calculation in single (one) Dimension Array:

Array of an element of an array say “A[ I ]” is calculated using the following formula:

Address of A [ I ] = B + W * ( I – LB )

Where,
B = Base address
W = Storage Size of one element stored in the array (in byte)
I = Subscript of element whose address is to be found
LB = Lower limit / Lower Bound of subscript, if not specified assume 0 (zero)

Example:
Given the base address of an array B[1300…..1900] as 1020 and size of each element is 2 bytes in
the memory. Find the address of B[1700].
Solution:
The given values are: B = 1020, LB = 1300, W = 2, I = 1700

Address of A [ I ] = B + W * ( I – LB )
= 1020 + 2 * (1700 – 1300)
= 1020 + 2 * 400
= 1020 + 800
= 1820 [Ans]
Address Calculation in Double (Two) Dimensional Array:

While storing the elements of a 2-D array in memory, these are allocated contiguous memory
locations. Therefore, a 2-D array must be linearized so as to enable their storage. There are two
alternatives to achieve linearization: Row-Major and Column-Major.
Address of an element of any array say “A[ I ][ J ]” is calculated in two forms as given:
(1) Row Major System (2) Column Major System

Row Major System:

Address of A [ I ][ J ] = B + W * [ N * ( I – Lr ) + ( J – Lc ) ]

Column Major System:

The address of a location in Column Major System is calculated using the following formula:

Address of A [ I ][ J ] Column Major Wise = B + W * [( I – Lr ) + M * ( J – Lc )]

Where,
B = Base address
I = Row subscript of element whose address is to be found
J = Column subscript of element whose address is to be found
W = Storage Size of one element stored in the array (in byte)
Lr = Lower limit of row/start row index of matrix, if not given assume 0 (zero)
Lc = Lower limit of column/start column index of matrix, if not given assume 0 (zero)
M = Number of row of the given matrix
N = Number of column of the given matrix

Important: Usually number of rows and columns of a matrix are given ( like A[20][30] or A[40][60] )
but if it is given as A[Lr- – – – – Ur, Lc- – – – – Uc]. In this case number of rows and columns are
calculated using the following methods:

Number of rows (M) will be calculated as = (Ur – Lr) + 1

Examples:

Q 1. An array X [-15……….10, 15……………40] requires one byte of storage. If beginning location is

Solution:
As you see here the number of rows and columns are not given in the question. So they are
calculated as:

Number or rows say M = (Ur – Lr) + 1 = [10 – (- 15)] +1 = 26

The given values are: B = 1500, W = 1 byte, I = 15, J = 20, Lr = -15, Lc = 15, M = 26

Address of A [ I ][ J ] = B + W * [ ( I – Lr ) + M * ( J – Lc ) ]

= 1500 + 1 * [(15 – (-15)) + 26 * (20 – 15)] = 1500 + 1 * [30 + 26 * 5] = 1500 + 1 * [160] = 1660 [Ans]

(ii) Row Major Wise Calculation of above equation

The given values are: B = 1500, W = 1 byte, I = 15, J = 20, Lr = -15, Lc = 15, N = 26

Address of A [ I ][ J ] = B + W * [ N * ( I – Lr ) + ( J – Lc ) ]

= 1500 + 1* [26 * (15 – (-15))) + (20 – 15)] = 1500 + 1 * [26 * 30 + 5] = 1500 + 1 * [780 + 5] = 1500 +
785
= 2285 [Ans]