An array in the data structure is a collection of elements of the same type stored in adjacent memory locations. This data structure allows us to quickly access and manipulate the elements, such as searching for an element or sorting them. Arrays can be used for various applications, from storing numbers or characters to matrices and images.
Properties of Array in Data Structure
- Order: Arrays are linear data structures that store items in a specific order.
- Searching: The time complexity of searching an element in arrays is O(n).
- Access: Arrays offer direct access to any element with its index or position number.
- Insertion and Deletion: Insertion and deletion operations take more time than searching an element as it requires shifting elements from one location to another.
- Size: It can only store a fixed amount of elements as their size is predetermined during declaration.
Types of Arrays
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One-Dimensional
The simplest type of arrays, one-dimensional arrays, contains a single row of elements. These arrays are usually indexed from 0 to n-1, where ‘n’ is the size of the array. Utilizing its assigned index number, each element in an array can be conveniently accessed.
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Two-Dimensional
Two-dimensional array type are arrays that contain arrays of elements. These are also referred to as matrix arrays since they can be thought of as a grid that lays out the elements into rows and columns. Each element within the two-dimensional array can be accessed individually by its row and column location. This array type is useful for storing data such as tables or pictures, where each element may have multiple associated values.
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Multi-Dimensional
Multi-Dimensional arrays are a powerful data structure used to store and manage data organizationally. This type of arrays consist of multiple arrays that are arranged hierarchically. They can have any number of dimensions, the most common being two dimensions (rows and columns), but three or more dimensions may also be used.
