Arrays are used to store multiple values in a single variable,instead of declaring separate variables for each value.To declare an array,define the variable type with square brackets:We have now declared a variable that holds an array of strings.To insert ...
Arrays are used to store multiple values in a single variable, instead of declaring separate variables for each value.
To declare an array, define the variable type with square brackets:
String[] cars;
We have now declared a variable that holds an array of strings. To insert values to it, you can place the values in a comma-separated list, inside curly braces:
You can loop through the array elements with the for loop, and use the length property to specify how many times the loop should run.
The following example outputs all elements in the cars array:
String[] cars = {"Volvo", "BMW", "Ford", "Mazda"};
for (int i = 0; i < cars.length; i++) {
System.out.println(cars[i]);
}
Loop Through an Array with For-Each
There is also a "for-each" loop, which is used exclusively to loop through elements in arrays:
for (type variable : arrayname) {
...
}
The following example outputs all elements in the cars array, using a "for-each" loop:
String[] cars = {"Volvo", "BMW", "Ford", "Mazda"};
for (String i : cars) {
System.out.println(i);
}
The example above can be read like this: for eachString element (called i - as in index) in cars, print out the value of i.
If you compare the for loop and for-each loop, you will see that the for-each method is easier to write, it does not require a counter (using the length property), and it is more readable.
Multidimensional Arrays
A multidimensional array is an array of arrays.
Multidimensional arrays are useful when you want to store data as a tabular form, like a table with rows and columns.
To create a two-dimensional array, add each array within its own set of curly braces:
int[][] myNumbers = { {1, 2, 3, 4}, {5, 6, 7} };
myNumbers is now an array with two arrays as its elements.
Access Elements
To access the elements of the myNumbers array, specify two indexes: one for the array, and one for the element inside that array. This example accesses the third element (2) in the second array (1) of myNumbers: