C# Arrays

Like other programming languages, array in C# is a group of similar types of

elements that have contiguous memory location. In C#, array is an object of
base type System. Array. In C#, array index starts from 0. We can store only
fixed set of elements in C# array.

C# Array Types
There are 3 types of arrays in C# programming:

1. Single Dimensional Array

2. Multidimensional Array
3. Jagged Array

C# Single Dimensional Array

To create single dimensional array, you need to use square brackets [] after the
type.

int[] arr = new int[5];//creating array

You cannot place square brackets after the identifier.

int arr[] = new int[5];//compile time error

Let's see a simple example of C# array, where we are going to declare, initialize
and traverse array.

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] arr = new int[5];//creating array
arr[0] = 10;//initializing array
arr[2] = 20;
arr[4] = 30;
 //traversing array
for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
}
}
}

C# Array Example: Declaration and Initialization at same

time
There are 3 ways to initialize array at the time of declaration.

int[] arr = new int[5]{ 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };

We can omit the size of array.

int[] arr = new int[]{ 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };

We can omit the new operator also.

int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };

Let's see the example of array where we are declaring and initializing array at
the same time.

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//Declaration and Initialization of array

//traversing array
for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
}
}
}

C# Array Example 1:
We can also traverse the array elements using foreach loop. It returns array
element one by one.
 using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//creating and initializing array

//traversing array
foreach (int i in arr)
{
Console.WriteLine(i);
}
}
}

C# Array Example 2:
using System;

namespace AccessArray {
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {

// create an array
int[] numbers = {1, 2, 3};

//access first element

Console.WriteLine("Element in first index : " + numbers[0]);

//access second element

Console.WriteLine("Element in second index : " + numbers[1]);

//access third element

Console.WriteLine("Element in third index : " + numbers[2]);
Console.ReadLine();

}
Output

Element in first index : 1

Element in second index : 2
Element in third index : 3

C# Array Example 3: Change Array Elements

using System;

namespace ChangeArray {
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {

// create an array
int[] numbers = {1, 2, 3};

Console.WriteLine("Old Value at index 0: " + numbers[0]);

// change the value at index 0

numbers[0] = 11;

//print new value

Console.WriteLine("New Value at index 0: " + numbers[0]);

Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}

Output

Old Value at index 0: 1

New Value at index 0: 11

In the above example, the initial value at index 0 is 1. Notice the line,

//change the value at index 0

numbers[0] = 11;

C# Array Example 4: Array Operations using System.Linq

In C#, we have the System.Linq namespace that provides different

methods to perform various operations in an array. For example,

Example: Find Minimum and Maximum Element

using System;

// provides us various methods to use in an array

using System.Linq;

namespace ArrayMinMax {
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {

int[] numbers = {51, 1, 3, 4, 98};

// get the minimum element

Console.WriteLine("Smallest Element: " + numbers.Min());

// Max() returns the largest number in array

Console.WriteLine("Largest Element: " + numbers.Max());

Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}

Output

Smallest Element: 1
Largest Element: 98

C# Array Example 5: Find the Average of an Array

using System;
// provides us various methods to use in an array
using System.Linq;

namespace ArrayFunction {
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {

int[] numbers = {30, 31, 94, 86, 55};

// get the sum of all array elements

float sum = numbers.Sum();

// get the total number of elements present in the array

int count = numbers.Count();

float average = sum/count;

Console.WriteLine("Average : " + average);

// compute the average

Console.WriteLine("Average using Average() : " + numbers.Average());

Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}

C# Passing Array to Function

In C#, to reuse the array logic, we can create function. To pass array to
function in C#, we need to provide only array name.

functionname(arrayname);//passing array

C# Passing Array to Function Example: print array elements

Let's see an example of C# function which prints the array elements.

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
static void printArray(int[] arr)

{
Console.WriteLine("Printing array elements:");
for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
}
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] arr1 = { 25, 10, 20, 15, 40, 50 };
int[] arr2 = { 12, 23, 44, 11, 54 };
printArray(arr1);//passing array to function
printArray(arr2);
}
}

C# Passing Array to Function Example: Print minimum number

Let's see an example of C# array which prints minimum number in an

array using function.
using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
static void printMin(int[] arr)
{
int min = arr[0];
for (int i = 1; i < arr.Length; i++)
{
if (min > arr[i])
{
min = arr[i];
}

}
Console.WriteLine("Minimum element is: " + min);
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] arr1 = { 25, 10, 20, 15, 40, 50 };
int[] arr2 = { 12, 23, 44, 11, 54 };

printMin(arr1);//passing array to function

printMin(arr2);
}
}

Output:
Minimum element is: 10
Minimum element is: 11

C# Passing Array to Function Example: Print maximum number

Let's see an example of C# array which prints maximum number in an
array using function.
 using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
static void printMax(int[] arr)
{
int max = arr[0];

for (int i = 1; i < arr.Length; i++)

{
if (max < arr[i])
{
max = arr[i];
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Maximum element is: " + max);
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] arr1 = { 25, 10, 20, 15, 40, 50 };
int[] arr2 = { 12, 23, 64, 11, 54 };

printMax(arr1);//passing array to function

printMax(arr2);
}
}

C# Multidimensional Arrays
The multidimensional array is also known as rectangular arrays in C#. It can be
two dimensional or three dimensional. The data is stored in tabular form (row *
column) which is also known as matrix.

To create multidimensional array, we need to use comma inside the square

brackets. For example:
 1. int[,] arr=new int[3,3];//declaration of 2D array

2. int[,,] arr=new int[3,3,3];//declaration of 3D array

C# Multidimensional Array Example

Let's see a simple example of multidimensional array in C# which declares,
initializes and traverse two dimensional array.

using System;
public class MultiArrayExample
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[,] arr=new int[3,3];//declaration of 2D array
arr[0,1]=10;//initialization
arr[1,2]=20;
arr[2,0]=30;

//traversal
for(int i=0;i<3;i++){
for(int j=0;j<3;j++){
Console.Write(arr[i,j]+" ");
}
Console.WriteLine();//new line at each row
}
}
}

Output:

0 10 0
0 0 20
30 0 0

C# Multidimensional Array

Example: Declaration and initialization at same time

There are 3 ways to initialize multidimensional array in C# while declaration.
 int[,] arr = new int[3,3]= { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 }, { 7, 8, 9 } };
We can omit the array size.

int[,] arr = new int[,]{ { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 }, { 7, 8, 9 } };

We can omit the new operator also.

int[,] arr = { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 }, { 7, 8, 9 } };
Let's see a simple example of multidimensional array which initializes array at
the time of declaration.

using System;
public class MultiArrayExample
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[,] arr = { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 }, { 7, 8, 9 } };//declaration and initialization

//traversal
for(int i=0;i<3;i++){
for(int j=0;j<3;j++){
Console.Write(arr[i,j]+" ");
}
Console.WriteLine();//new line at each row
}
}
}

Output:

123
456
789