Chapter 6: Arrays

Presentation slides for

Java Software Solutions

Foundations of Program Design
Third Edition

by Ali Kassem

Java Software Solutions is published by Addison-Wesley

Presentation slides are copyright 2002 by John Lewis and William Loftus. All rights reserved.
Instructors using the textbook may use and modify these slides for pedagogical purposes.
Arrays
 Arrays are objects that help us organize large amounts of
information
 Chapter 6 focuses on:

• array declaration and use

• passing arrays and array elements as parameters
• arrays of objects
• sorting elements in an array
• multidimensional arrays
• the ArrayList class
• polygons and polylines
• more button components

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Arrays
 An array is an ordered list of values

The entire array Each value has a numeric index

has a single name

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

scores 79 87 94 82 67 98 87 81 74 91

An array of size N is indexed from zero to N-1

This array holds 10 values that are indexed from 0 to 9

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Arrays
 A particular value in an array is referenced using the array
name followed by the index in brackets

 For example, the expression

scores[2]

refers to the value 94 (the 3rd value in the array)

 That expression represents a place to store a single integer

and can be used wherever an integer variable can be used

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Arrays
 For example, an array element can be assigned a value,
printed, or used in a calculation:

scores[2] = 89;

scores[first] = scores[first] + 2;

mean = (scores[0] + scores[1])/2;

System.out.println ("Top = " + scores[5]);

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Arrays
 The values held in an array are called array elements

 An array stores multiple values of the same type (the

element type)
 The element type can be a primitive type or an object
reference
 Therefore, we can create an array of integers, or an array
of characters, or an array of String objects, etc.
 In Java, the array itself is an object

 Therefore the name of the array is a object reference

variable, and the array itself must be instantiated
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Declaring Arrays
 The scores array could be declared as follows:

int[] scores = new int[10];

 The type of the variable scores is int[] (an array of
integers)
 Note that the type of the array does not specify its size, but
each object of that type has a specific size
 The reference variable scores is set to a new array object
that can hold 10 integers
 See BasicArray.java (page 322)

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Declaring Arrays
 Some examples of array declarations:

float[] prices = new float[500];

boolean[] flags;

flags = new boolean[20];

char[] codes = new char[1750];

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Bounds Checking
 Once an array is created, it has a fixed size

 An index used in an array reference must specify a valid

element
 That is, the index value must be in bounds (0 to N-1)

 The Java interpreter throws an

ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException if an array
index is out of bounds
 This is called automatic bounds checking

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Bounds Checking
 For example, if the array codes can hold 100 values, it can
be indexed using only the numbers 0 to 99

 If count has the value 100, then the following reference

will cause an exception to be thrown:

System.out.println (codes[count]);

 It’s common to introduce off-by-one errors when using

arrays
problem

for (int index=0; index <= 100; index++)

codes[index] = index*50 + epsilon;

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Bounds Checking
 Each array object has a public constant called length that
stores the size of the array
 It is referenced using the array name:

scores.length
 Note that length holds the number of elements, not the
largest index
 See ReverseOrder.java (page 324)

 See LetterCount.java (page 326)

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Alternate Array Syntax
 The brackets of the array type can be associated with the
element type or with the name of the array

 Therefore the following declarations are equivalent:

float[] prices;
float prices[];

 The first format generally is more readable

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Initializer Lists
 An initializer list can be used to instantiate and initialize an
array in one step
 The values are delimited by braces and separated by
commas
 Examples:

int[] units = {147, 323, 89, 933, 540,

269, 97, 114, 298, 476};

char[] letterGrades = {'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', ’F'};

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Initializer Lists
 Note that when an initializer list is used:
• the new operator is not used

• no size value is specified

 The size of the array is determined by the number of items

in the initializer list
 An initializer list can only be used only in the array
declaration
 See Primes.java (page 330)

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Arrays as Parameters
 An entire array can be passed as a parameter to a method

 Like any other object, the reference to the array is passed,

making the formal and actual parameters aliases of each
other
 Changing an array element within the method changes the
original
 An array element can be passed to a method as well, and
follows the parameter passing rules of that element's type

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Arrays of Objects
 The elements of an array can be object references

 The following declaration reserves space to store 25

references to String objects

String[] words = new String[25];

 It does NOT create the String objects themselves

 Each object stored in an array must be instantiated

separately
 See GradeRange.java (page 332)

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Command-Line Arguments
 The signature of the main method indicates that it takes an
array of String objects as a parameter
 These values come from command-line arguments that are
provided when the interpreter is invoked
 For example, the following invocation of the interpreter
passes an array of three String objects into main:
> java StateEval pennsylvania texas arizona

 These strings are stored at indexes 0-2 of the parameter

 See NameTag.java (page 334)

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Arrays of Objects
 Objects can have arrays as instance variables

 Many useful structures can be created with arrays and

objects
 The software designer must determine carefully an
organization of data and objects that makes sense for the
situation
 See Tunes.java (page 335)
 See CDCollection.java (page 337)
 See CD.java (page 340)

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Sorting
 Sorting is the process of arranging a list of items in a
particular order
 The sorting process is based on specific value(s)

• sorting a list of test scores in ascending numeric order

• sorting a list of people alphabetically by last name

 There are many algorithms for sorting a list of items

 These algorithms vary in efficiency

 We will examine two specific algorithms:

• Selection Sort
• Insertion Sort
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Selection Sort
 The approach of Selection Sort:
• select a value and put it in its final place into the list
• repeat for all other values

 In more detail:
• find the smallest value in the list
• switch it with the value in the first position
• find the next smallest value in the list
• switch it with the value in the second position
• repeat until all values are in their proper places

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Selection Sort
 An example:

original: 3 9 6 1 2
smallest is 1: 1 9 6 3 2
smallest is 2: 1 2 6 3 9
smallest is 3: 1 2 3 6 9
smallest is 6: 1 2 3 6 9

 See SortGrades.java (page 342)

 See Sorts.java (page 343) -- the selectionSort
method

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Swapping
 Swapping is the process of exchanging two values

 Swapping requires three assignment statements

temp = first;
first = second;
second = temp;

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Insertion Sort
 The approach of Insertion Sort:
• pick any item and insert it into its proper place in a sorted sublist
• repeat until all items have been inserted

 In more detail:
• consider the first item to be a sorted sublist (of one item)
• insert the second item into the sorted sublist, shifting the first item
as needed to make room to insert the new addition
• insert the third item into the sorted sublist (of two items), shifting
items as necessary
• repeat until all values are inserted into their proper positions

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Insertion Sort
 An example:

original: 3 9 6 1 2
insert 9: 3 9 6 1 2
insert 6: 3 6 9 1 2
insert 1: 1 3 6 9 2
insert 2: 1 2 3 6 9

 See Sorts.java (page 343) -- the insertionSort

method

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Sorting Objects
 Integers have an inherent order, but the ordering criteria of
a collection of objects must be defined
 Recall that a Java interface can be used as a type name and
guarantees that a particular class implements particular
methods
 We can use the Comparable interface and the
compareTo method to develop a generic sort for a set of
objects
 See SortPhoneList.java (page 347)
 See Contact.java (page 348)
 See Sorts.java (page 343) – the second
insertionSort method
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Comparing Sorts
 Both Selection and Insertion sorts are similar in efficiency

 They both have outer loops that scan all elements, and
inner loops that compare the value of the outer loop with
almost all values in the list
 Approximately n2 number of comparisons are made to sort
a list of size n
 We therefore say that these sorts are of order n2

 Other sorts are more efficient: order n log2 n

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Two-Dimensional Arrays
 A one-dimensional array stores a list of elements

 A two-dimensional array can be thought of as a table of

elements, with rows and columns

one two
dimension dimensions

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Two-Dimensional Arrays
 To be precise, a two-dimensional array in Java is an array
of arrays
 A two-dimensional array is declared by specifying the size
of each dimension separately:
int[][] scores = new int[12][50];

 A two-dimensional array element is referenced using two

index values
value = scores[3][6]

 The array stored in one row or column can be specified

using one index
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Two-Dimensional Arrays

Expression Type Description

scores int[][] 2D array of integers, or
array of integer arrays
scores[5] int[] array of integers
scores[5][12] int integer

 See TwoDArray.java (page 351)

 See SodaSurvey.java (page 352)

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Multidimensional Arrays
 An array can have many dimensions

 If it has more than one dimension, it is called a

multidimensional array
 Each dimension subdivides the previous one into the
specified number of elements
 Each array dimension has its own length constant

 Because each dimension is an array of array references, the

arrays within one dimension can be of different lengths
• these are sometimes called ragged arrays

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The ArrayList Class
 The ArrayList class is part of the java.util package

 Like an array, it can store a list of values and reference

them with an index
 Unlike an array, an ArrayList object grows and shrinks
as needed
 Items can be inserted or removed with a single method
invocation
 It stores references to the Object class, which allows it to
store any kind of object
 See Beatles.java (page 357)

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ArrayList Efficiency
 The ArrayList class is implemented using an array

 The code of the ArrayList class automatically expands

the array's capacity to accommodate additional elements
 The array is manipulated so that indexes remain
continuous as elements are added or removed
 If elements are added to and removed from the end of the
list, this processing is fairly efficient
 If elements are inserted and removed from the middle of
the list, the elements are constantly being shifted around

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Polygons and Polylines
 Arrays often are helpful in graphics processing

 Polygons and polylines are shapes that can be defined by

values stored in arrays

 A polyline is similar to a polygon except that its endpoints

do not meet, and it cannot be filled

 See Rocket.java (page 360)

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The Rocket Program

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The Polygon Class
 The Polygon class, defined in the java.awt package can
be used to define and draw a polygon

 Two versions of the overloaded drawPolygon and

fillPolygon methods each take a single Polygon object
as a parameter

 A Polygon object encapsulates the coordinates of the

polygon

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Check Boxes
 A check box is a button that can be toggled on or off

 A check box is represented by the JCheckBox class

 A change of state generates an item event

 The ItemListener interface corresponds to item events

 The itemStateChanged method of the listener responds

when a check box changes state

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The StyleOptions Program
 A frame is a container that can be used to create stand-
alone GUI applications

 A frame is represented by the JFrame class

 A Font object represents by the font's:

• family name (such as Times or Courier)
• style (bold, italic, or both)
• font size

 See StyleOptions.java (page 364)

 See StyleGUI.java (page 365)

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The StyleOptions Program

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Radio Buttons
 A set of radio buttons represents a set of mutually exclusive
options

 When a radio button from a group is selected, the other

button currently "on" in the group is toggled off

 A radio button generates an action event

 See QuoteOptions.java (page 368)

 See QuoteGUI.java (page 369)

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The QuoteOptions Program

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Summary
 Chapter 6 has focused on:
• array declaration and use
• passing arrays and array elements as parameters
• arrays of objects
• sorting elements in an array
• multidimensional arrays
• the ArrayList class
• polygons and polylines
• more button components

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