Lecture 3 - Arrays

Introduction to Programming in C
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Based on slides by Dr. Wan-Lei Zhao
• Opening Discussion

• We have the following problem:

• We have 10 students in the class, and we want the
average/ sum/ max/ min score of their tests. We also
would like to ranks them.
• Based on what we’ve learned, should we keep 10
variables of the same type?
• What happens if we have 100 students?
• Opening Discussion

• Sorting is even harder!

• This is where the array comes
• 1D Arrays - Declaration

• 1D array is defined in the following form:

• Type could be any type defined in C. E.g., int, float

• “arrayName” should be unique
• An array is a variable/constant, so the same rules apply to it
as well
• “size” should be an integer or integer constant greater than 0
• 1D Arrays - Declaration
• 1D Arrays – Element Visitation

• Element in an array is visited by the subscript operator

• Subscript goes from 0 to N-1
• For example, to visit the 3rd element of x[N], we write “x[2]”
• 1D Arrays – Element Visitation

• In the example below, you are not allowed to use subscript

beyond 39
• You will invade other variables territory
• 1D Arrays – How Does It Look Like?

• The system opens a continuous memory block for an array

• Actual size depends on both the type and length of the array
• 1D Arrays – How Does It Look Like?

• The system opens a continuous memory block for an array

• Actual size depends on both the type and length of the array
• 1D Arrays – How Does It Look Like?

• The system opens a continuous memory block for an array

• Actual size depends on both the type and length of the array
• 1D Arrays – Initialization

• Array with no initialization, what happens?

Initializes to Initializes to zeros Initializes to zeros

random numbers
• Don’t rely on default initialization
• 1D Arrays – Initialization

• Initializers as follows are valid

• 1D Arrays – Initialization

• Initializers as follows are invalid

• 1D Arrays – Example

• Given an array: a[10] = {3, 21, 5, 8, 5, 11, 22, 14, 9, 51}

• Flip the array to: {51, 9, 14, 22, 11, 5, 8, 5, 21, 3}
• 1D Arrays – Example

• Given an array: a[10] = {3, 21, 5, 8, 5, 11, 22, 14, 9, 51}

• Flip the array to: {51, 9, 14, 22, 11, 5, 8, 5, 21, 3}
• The idea is that we only need to swap two elements each
time
• One for the start, and one for the end
10
• We do this times
2

15 minutes to solve
• 1D Arrays – Example

• Given an array: a[10] = {3, 21, 5, 8, 5, 11, 22, 14, 9, 51}

• Flip the array to: {51, 9, 14, 22, 11, 5, 8, 5, 21, 3}
𝑁
• For i from 0 to
2
• Exchange a[i] with a[N-i-1]
• End-for
• 1D Arrays – Example
𝑁
• For i from 0 to
2
• Exchange a[i] with a[N-i-1]
• End-for
• 1D Arrays – Example 2

• An integer number given by the user

• Int a[n]
• Input “n” numbers and assign them to “a[n]”
• Print out array “a”

15 minutes to solve
• 1D Arrays – Example 2
• 1D Arrays – Example 3

• Given a sorted array: a[7] = {3, 14, 15, 18, 22, 35}
• Insert an input number to the array while keeping the array
sorted.
• You can pop the first element to clear space.

15 minutes to solve
• 1D Arrays – Example 3
• 1D Arrays – Example 4

• Given an array: a[10] = {21, 3, 5, 8, 5, 11, 22, 14, 51, 9}

• Sort the array in ascending order: {3, 5, 5, 8, 9, 11, 14, 21, 22,
51}

5 minutes to think of a solution

• 1D Arrays – Example 4

• Given an array: a[10] = {21, 3, 5, 8, 5, 11, 22, 14, 51, 9}

• Sort the array in ascending order: {3, 5, 5, 8, 9, 11, 14, 21, 22,
51}
• The idea is bubble sort, which is a classic method for sorting
• Each time, we move the largest element to the rear of the
array
• Repeat this on the sub-array left N times.
• 1D Arrays – Example 4

• An example of one sorting iteration

• 1D Arrays – Example 4

• Let’s outline the procedure

• For I from 0 to N do
• For j from 0 to N-I do
• Check a[j] and a[j+1]
• If a[j] > a[j+1]: swap them
• End-for(j)
• End-for(i)
• 1D Arrays – Example 4
• 2D Arrays – Opening Discussion

• Let’s continue with the opening example from the last section
• In your class, you might have several courses.
• So we need several 1D arrays
• Or alternatively, we can use a 2D array
• 2D Arrays – Declaration

• Similar to 1D array, type is required

• “arrayName” should be unique
• “row” and “column” should be constant expressions
• 2D Arrays – Initialization

• Following way is also valid

• 2D Arrays – Initialization

𝑁
• Following way is also valid, 𝑟𝑜𝑤 =
4

• If no initialization, the element is set to be 0 by default

• 2D Arrays – Initialization

• Following way is also invalid

• The 2D array is organized in row major order

• 2D Arrays – How Does it Look Like?
• 2D Arrays – Visiting each element of the array
• 2D Arrays – Example 1

• Given a 2D matrix, kept in a 1D array

• A[12] = {12, 13, 5, 5, 7, 21, 6, 4, 10, 5, 5, 9}
• Transpose A
• 2D Arrays – Example 1

• Given a 2D matrix, kept in a 1D array

• A[12] = {12, 13, 5, 5, 7, 21, 6, 4, 10, 5, 5, 9}
• Transpose A

• A[i][j] swaps with B[j][i]

• 2D Arrays – Example 1

• b[12] = {12, 5, 6, 5, 13, 7, 4, 5, 5, 21, 10, 9}

• A[i][j] is a[i*c1+j], where c1=3
• B[j][i] is b[j*c2+i], where c2=4
• 2D Arrays – Example 1
• 2D Arrays – Example 1

• Now do the same with two 2D arrays of relevant sizes.

• Do the same with a square matrix in-place (without a second
2D array).