Java Arrays are a powerful data structure that stores collections of elements in an indexed, ordered format. They allow developers to map values to unique identifiers,
allowing them direct access when needed. With Java Arrays, programmers can group objects of the same type into a single entity and resize and reshape them depending on their needs - allowing for better code readability and maintenance. Additionally, they provide built-in methods like length(), and sort(), which makes working with arrays even easier! Furthermore, since all array elements must be of the same type, it helps keep data consistent throughout an application’s lifetime, thus avoiding potential bugs caused by conflicting types. Let us look into the type of arrays. It also allows one to optimize their program performance by utilizing various features that come along with this data, such as lazy initialization or caching - both helping reduce memory usage while providing faster results due to its pre-allocation capabilities!
One-Dimensional Arrays
A one-dimensional array is a linear collection of elements, all of which are of the same data type. The basic syntax for declaring a one-dimensional array is:
Example:
dataType[] arrayName;
Or
dataType arrayName[];
Example:
int[] numbers;
int[] numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
One can also assign values to the arrays as follows:
int[] numbers = new int[5];
numbers[0] = 1;
numbers[1] = 2;
numbers[2] = 3;
numbers[3] = 4;
numbers[4] = 5;
Multi-Dimensional Arrays
A multi-dimensional array is an array of arrays which can be used to represent a table of values.
Syntax:
dataType[][] arrayName;
or
dataType arrayName[][];
Example1:
int[][] numbers = { { 2,3}, {4, 5}, { 6,7} };
Example2:
int[][] numbers = new int[3][2];
numbers[0][0] = 1;
numbers[0][1] = 2;
numbers[1][0] = 3;
numbers[1][1] = 4;
numbers[2][0] = 5;
numbers[2][1] = 6;
Jagged Arrays
A jagged array is an array of arrays where the length of each array is not the same. The basic syntax for declaring a jagged array is the same as for a multi-dimensional array:
Syntax:
dataType[][] arrayName;
dataType arrayName[][];