Arrays and String
An array is a collection of similar type of elements which is stored in a contiguous
memory location.
Java array is an object which contains elements of a similar data type. Additionally, The
elements of an array are stored in a contiguous memory location. It is a data structure where we
store similar elements. We can store only a fixed set of elements in a Java array.
Array in Java is index-based, the first element of the array is stored at the 0th index, 2nd element
is stored on 1st index and so on.
One Dimensional Array :
A list of items can be given one variable name using only one subscript such a variable is called
a single-scripted or one –dimensional array.
Example
int a[]=new int[5];
for this array computer reserve five memory locations as
a[0] a[1] a[2] a[3] a[4]
The values assigned to the array elements, as follows:
a[0]=20
a[1]=40
a[2]=45
a[3]=100
a[4]=55
Creating Array:
Array must be declared and created in computer memory before they are used. Creation of array
involves three steps:
1. Declare the array
2. Create memory locations
3. Put values into the locations
Declaration of Arrays
Array in java may be declared in two forms.
Form1
Datatype Arrayname[ ];
Form2
Datatype[ ] Arrayname;
Example:
int number[ ];
floar percentage []
int[ ] count;
float[ ] average;
Creation of Arrays
After declaring the array, we need to create it in the memory.
Java allows us to create arrays using new operator only, as below :
Arrayname=new datatype[size];
Example:
number=new int[5];
average=new float[10];
these lines creates sufficient memory space for array number and average.
It is also possible to combine two steps – declaration and creation into one ,shown below :
int number [ ] = new int[5];
Initialization of Array: [ put values into array ]
Putting the values into the array is known as initialization . This is done using the array subscript
as shown below.
Arrayname [Subscript] = value;
Ex.
Number[0]=5;
Number[1]=40;
..
Number[4]=60;
We can also initialize array automatically in the same wayas the ordinary variable when they are
declared, as shown below:
Datatype arrayname[ ] = { list of values };
Values separated by commas and surrounded by curly braces.
Ex.
Int number[ ] = {10,20,50,100,55};
Program to demonstrate one dimensional array
class Testarray
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
int a[]={33,3,4,5}; //declaration, instantiation and initialization
//printing array
for(int i=0;i<a.length;i++) //length is the property of array
System.out.println(a[i]);
}
}
Output:
33
3
4
5
Two Dimensional array
Two dimensional array requires two subscript one for Row and another for Column .Data in two
dimensional arrays are stored in tabular form (in row major order).
Declaration of 2D array:
int a[ ][ ];
a = new int [3][4];
or
int[][] a = new int[3][4];
Here, a is a two-dimensional (2d) array. The array can hold maximum of 12 elements of
type int.
Initialization of 2D array :
Ex.
int a[ ][ ] = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12};
Or
int a[ ][ ] = { {1,2,3,4}, {5,6,7,8}, {9,10,11,12} };
or
int a[ ][ ] = {
{1,2,3,4},
{5,6,7,8},
{9,10,11,12}
};
//Program to demonstrate two dimensional array
class 2darray
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
//declaring and initializing 2D array
int arr[][]={{1,2,3},{2,4,5},{4,4,5}};
//printing 2D array
for(int i=0;i<3;i++)
{
for(int j=0;j<3;j++)
{
System.out.print(arr[i][j]+" ");
}
System.out.println();
}
}
}
Output:
123
245
445
String Array
Strings represent a sequence of character.
Java String array is used to hold fixed number of Strings
Java String array is basically an array of objects.
There are two ways to declare string array – declaration without size and declare with size.
There are two ways to initialize string array – at the time of declaration, populating values after
declaration.
We can do different kind of processing on string array such as iteration, sorting, searching etc.
Java String Array Declaration
Below code shows different ways for string array declaration in java.
String[ ] strArray; //declare without size
String[ ] strArray1 = new String[3]; //declare with size
Note that we can also write string array as String strArray[] but above shows way is the standard
and recommended way. Also in the above code, strArray is null whereas strArray1 value
is [null, null, null].
Java String Array Initialization
Let’s look at different ways to initialize string array in java.
//inline initialization
String[ ] strArray1 = new String[] {"BMW","Ford","AUDI"};
String[] strArray2 = {"BMW","Ford","AUDI"};
//initialization after declaration
String[] strArray3 = new String[3];
strArray3[0] = "BMW";
strArray3[1] = "FORD";
strArray3[2] = "AUDI";
//Program to demonstrate string array
public class StringExample
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
String s1="java"; //creating string by java string literal
char ch[]={'s','t','r','i','n','g','s'};
String s2=new String(ch); //converting char array to string
String s3=new String("example"); //creating java string by new keyword
System.out.println(s1);
System.out.println(s2);
System.out.println(s3);
}
}
Output:
java
strings
example
String Methods:
The String class has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.
Method Description Return Type
charAt() Returns the character at the specified index char
(position)
compareTo() Compares two strings lexicographically int
concat() Appends a string to the end of another string String
contains() Checks whether a string contains a sequence of boolean
characters
equals() Compares two strings. Returns true if the boolean
strings are equal, and false if not
equalsIgnoreCase() Compares two strings, ignoring case boolean
considerations
format() Returns a formatted string using the specified String
locale, format string, and arguments
getChars() Copies characters from a string to an array of void
chars
indexOf() Returns the position of the first found int
occurrence of specified characters in a string
isEmpty() Checks whether a string is empty or not boolean
lastIndexOf() Returns the position of the last found int
occurrence of specified characters in a string
length() Returns the length of a specified string int
replace() Searches a string for a specified value, and String
returns a new string where the specified values
are replaced
replaceFirst() Replaces the first occurrence of a substring that String
matches the given regular expression with the
given replacement
replaceAll() Replaces each substring of this string that String
matches the given regular expression with the
given replacement
split() Splits a string into an array of substrings String[]
startsWith() Checks whether a string starts with specified boolean
characters
subSequence() Returns a new character sequence that is a CharSequence
subsequence of this sequence
substring() Extracts the characters from a string, beginning String
at a specified start position, and through the
specified number of character
toCharArray() Converts this string to a new character array char[]
toLowerCase() Converts a string to lower case letters String
toString() Returns the value of a String object String
toUpperCase() Converts a string to upper case letters String
trim() Removes whitespace from both ends of a string String
Ex.
1. String s1=”sachin”;
String s2 = s1.concat(“Tendulkar”);
System.out.println(s2);
Output:
Sachin Tendulkar
2. String s1=”HELLO”;
String s2 = s1.toLowerCase;
String s3 = s1.ChartAt(4);
System.out.println(s2);
System.out.println(s3);
Output:
hello
O
By
Prof. Suchitra K. Kasbe
Department of Computer Science
********************
