Arrays

Fixed-Size Sequences of Elements

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Table of Contents

1. What are Arrays?

 Creating Arrays
 Declaring and Initializing
2. Reading and Printing Arrays
3. Usage with Functions
4. C++11 Range-based for loop
5. C++11 <array> Header
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What are Arrays?

What Are Arrays?
 In programming, an array is a sequence of elements
Element index
Array of 5 0 1 2 3 4
elements … … … … …
Element of an array

 Elements are numbered from 0 to Length-1

 Elements are of the same type (e.g. integers)
 Arrays have fixed size and cannot be resized
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Arrays
LIVE DEMO
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Creating C++ Arrays

Creating C++ Arrays
 Declaring
DataType
identifier[arraySize];
 C++ arrays have some special initialization syntax
DataType identifier[N] = {elem0, elem1, ..., el-
emN-1};
 There can be less than N elements, but not more
int numbers[5] = { 10, 9, 12, 31, 15 };

Index 0 1 2 3 4
Value 10 9 12 31 15

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Declaring and Initializing

Array Declaration
 C++ Array size must be an integer, known compile-time
 i.e. size can be a literal
 or a const value/expression
double numbers[7];
const int NumLetters = 26;
char alphabet[NumLetters];

 You can also declare an array without a specified size

 The compiler is smart enough to get the elements' count
we put inside the braces
int numbersToFive[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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Array Initialization
 {} initializes elements (comma-separated values)
 if less values than array size -> remaining get default values
double values[3] = {3.14};
double sameValues[3] = {3.14, 0,
0};
 if more values than array size -> compilation error
 Other rules are the same as for primitives
 Can only be initialized once
 Can be made const
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Declaring and Initializing

LIVE DEMO
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Reading and Printing Arrays

Accessing Array Elements
 The indexing operator [] gives access to any
array element
int array[index] = value;
DataType value = arrayName[index]

 Once you access the element, treat it as a

normal variable
int array[3] = { 20, 30, 40 };
cout << "First->" << array[0]
<< "Second->"<< array[1]
<< "Third->" << array[2] <<
endl; 14
Reading-in an Array
 Arrays are often read-in from some input, instead of initialized
 That’s the point of arrays – to store arbitrary amounts of data
 Common approach: run a loop to read-in a number of elements
 Example: read-in a specified number of elements from console
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
std::cin << arr[i];
}
Writing-out (printing) an Array
 You will commonly need to display all elements of an array
 Common approach: loop over the elements, print each
 Note: need to know how long the array is – keep a variable
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
std::cout << arr[i] << " ";
}
Read and Print an Array
const int lenght = 20;

int array[lenght];
cout << "Enter elements in array: " << endl;
for(int i = 0; i < lenght; i++) {
cin >> array[i];
}
cout << "Elements in array: " << endl;
for(int i = 0; i < lenght; i++) {
cout << array[i] << " ";
}
cout << endl;
cout << "End of elements" << endl;
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How NOT to Read and Print an Array
int lenght = 0;
cout << "Enter a lenght of array: " << endl;
cin >> lenght;
int array[lenght];
cout << "Enter elements in array: " << endl;
for(int i = 0; i < lenght; i++) {
cin >> array[i];
}
cout << "Elements in array: " << endl;
for(int i = 0; i < lenght; i++) {
cout << array[i] << " ";
}
cout << endl;
cout << "End of elements" << endl;
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Reading and Printing Arrays

LIVE DEMO
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Arrays as Function Parameters

Arrays as Function Parameters
 Array parameters are declared the same way
arrays are declared
 First dimension size can be omitted in array parameter
 Usually necessary to add an int with the size

void print(int a[], int size) { int main() {

for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) int numbers[] = {1,2,3};
{
print(numbers, 3);
cout << a[i] << " ";
}
return 0;
cout << endl;
}
} 21
Arrays and Functions - Specifics
 Functions work with the original array the caller uses
 If the function changes an element, the caller's array is modified
 Array elements are passed "by reference"
 Functions can't return C++ "static" arrays created in them
 Arrays are essentially memory addresses
 The memory they point to is freed when the function exits
 We will later discuss other ways to return sequences of elements

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Arrays as Function Parameters

LIVE DEMO
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Arrays as Pointers
Arrays as Pointers

 Pointer - a variable that holds the address of another

variable (in the memory)
 The address stores its value
 Pointers have data type
 Arrays in C++ can be represented as pointers
 The array is a sequence of variables stored in memory
 The array name points to the first item
 We will learn more about pointers in the next courses
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Arrays as Pointers
 Examples:
int *ptr;
int arr[4];
ptr = arr;

ptr + 0 is equivalent to &arr[0];

ptr + 1 is equivalent to &arr[1];
ptr + 2 is equivalent to &arr[2];
ptr + 3 is equivalent to &arr[3];

*ptr == arr[0];
*(ptr + 1) is equivalent to arr[1];
*(ptr + 2) is equivalent to arr[2];
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Arrays as Pointers
LIVE DEMO
C++11 Range-Based for Loop
C++11 Range-Based for Loop
 Tired of writing for loops with indices to iterate over an array?
 C++11 added a loop for that use-case
 Syntax (for arrays): for (DataType element : array)
 Body will execute once for each element in the array
 On each iteration, element will be the next item in the array
int numbers[] = { 13, 42,
69 };
for (int i : numbers) {
cout << i << endl;
}
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Range-Based for Loop
LIVE DEMO
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C++11 <array> Header

C++11 <array> Header
 C++11 provides an alternative array, which is a bit smarter
 The array class knows its size, can be returned from functions
 #include<array>
 Declaring: array<int, 5> arr; is the same as int
arr[5];
 Declaring & Initializing:
 array<int, 5> arr = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
 arr.size() gives you the size of the array
 32
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C++11 <array> Header

LIVE DEMO
Summary

 Arrays hold a sequence of elements

 Elements are numbered
from 0 to length-1
 Creating (allocating) an array
 Accessing array elements by index
 Printing array elements
 Range-Based for Loop

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