An array is a named collection of contiguous storage locations, each of which stores a data item of the same data type. Each element of an array is referred to by a subscriptthat is, by its position in the array. If the array contains N elements, then its length is N and its indexes are 0, 1,. . .N-1.
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Array elements are referred to using the following subscript notation arrayname[subscript], where arrayname is any valid identifier, and subscript is an integer value in the range 0 to arrayname.length - 1. The array's length instance variable can be used as a bound for loops that process the array.
An array declaration provides the name and type of the array. An array instantiation uses the keyword new and causes the compiler to allocate memory for the array's elements:
int arr[]; // Declare a one-dimensional array variable arr = new int[15]; // Allocate 15 int locations for it
Multidimensional arrays have arrays as their components:
int twoDarr[][]; // Declare a two-dimensional array variable twoDarr = new int[10][15]; // Allocate 150 int locations
An array's values must be initialized by assigning values to each array location. An initializer expression may be included as part of the array declaration.
Insertion sort and selection sort are examples of array-sorting algorithms. Both algorithms require several passes over the array.
When an array is passed as an argument to a method, a reference to the array is passed rather than the entire array.
Swapping two elements of an array, or any two locations in memory, requires the use of a temporary variable.
Sequential search and binary search are examples of array-searching algorithms. Binary search requires that the array be sorted.
For multidimensional arrays, each dimension of the array has its own length variable.
Inheritance and polymorphism are useful design features for developing a hierarchy of computer games.
