Java - Arrays

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Java - Arrays
What are Arrays in Java?
Java provides a data structure called the array, which stores a fixed-size sequential collection of
elements of the same data type. An array is used to store a collection of data, but it is often more
useful to think of an array as a collection of variables of the same type.
Instead of declaring individual variables, such as number0, number1, ..., and number99, you
declare one array variable such as numbers and use numbers[0], numbers[1], and ..., numbers[99]
to represent individual variables.
This tutorial introduces how to declare array variables, create arrays, and process arrays using
indexed variables.
Declaring Array Variables

To use an array in a program, you must declare a variable to reference the array, and you must
specify the type of array the variable can reference. Here is the syntax for declaring an array
variable −
Syntax
dataType[] arrayRefVar; // preferred way.

or
dataType arrayRefVar[]; // works but not preferred way.
Note − The style dataType[] arrayRefVar is preferred. The style dataType arrayRefVar[] comes
from the C/C++ language and was adopted in Java to accommodate C/C++ programmers.
Example
The following code snippets are examples of this syntax −
double[] myList; // preferred way.

or
double myList[]; // works but not preferred way.
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Creating Arrays
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You can create an array by using the new operator with the following syntax −
Syntax
arrayRefVar = new dataType[arraySize];
The above statement does two things −
It creates an array using new dataType[arraySize].

It assigns the reference of the newly created array to the variable arrayRefVar.
Declaring an array variable, creating an array, and assigning the reference of the array to the
variable can be combined in one statement, as shown below −
dataType[] arrayRefVar = new dataType[arraySize];
Alternatively you can create arrays as follows −
dataType[] arrayRefVar = {value0, value1, ..., valuek};
The array elements are accessed through the index. Array indices are 0-based; that is, they start
from 0 to arrayRefVar.length-1.
Example
Following statement declares an array variable, myList, creates an array of 10 elements of double
type and assigns its reference to myList −
double[] myList = new double[10];
Following picture represents array myList. Here, myList holds ten double values and the indices
are from 0 to 9.
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Processing Arrays
When processing array elements, we often use either for loop or foreach loop because all of the
elements in an array are of the same type and the size of the array is known.
Example: Creating, Iterating and Performing Other Operations on

Arrays
Open Compiler
public class TestArray {
public static void main(String[] args) {

double[] myList = {1.9, 2.9, 3.4, 3.5};
// Print all the array elements

for (int i = 0; i < myList.length; i++) {
System.out.println(myList[i] + " ");
}
// Summing all elements

double total = 0;
total += myList[i];
}
System.out.println("Total is " + total);
// Finding the largest element

double max = myList[0];
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if (myList[i] > max) max = myList[i];

}
System.out.println("Max is " + max);
}
}
This will produce the following result −
Output
1.9
2.9
3.4
3.5
Total is 11.7
Max is 3.5
The foreach Loops with Arrays

JDK 1.5 introduced a new for loop known as foreach loop or enhanced for loop, which enables
you to traverse the complete array sequentially without using an index variable.
The following code displays all the elements in the array myList −
Example: Displaying All Elements of an Arrays
Open Compiler
public class TestArray {
public static void main(String[] args) {

double[] myList = {1.9, 2.9, 3.4, 3.5};
// Print all the array elements

for (double element: myList) {
System.out.println(element);
}
}
}
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This will produce the following result −
Output
1.9
2.9
3.4
3.5
Passing Arrays to Methods

Just as you can pass primitive type values to methods, you can also pass arrays to methods. For
example, the following method displays the elements in an int array −
Example
public static void printArray(int[] array) {

for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
System.out.print(array[i] + " ");
}
}
You can invoke it by passing an array. For example, the following statement invokes the printArray
method to display 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, and 2 −
Example
printArray(new int[]{3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 2});
Returning an Array from a Method

A method may also return an array. For example, the following method returns an array that is the
reversal of another array −
Example
public static int[] reverse(int[] list) {

int[] result = new int[list.length];
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for (int i = 0, j = result.length - 1; i < list.length; i++, j--) {

result[j] = list[i];
}
return result;
}
The Arrays Class

The java.util.Arrays class contains various static methods for sorting and searching arrays,
comparing arrays, and filling array elements. These methods are overloaded for all primitive
types.
Sr.No. Method & Description
public static int binarySearch(Object[] a, Object key)

Searches the specified array of Object ( Byte, Int , double, etc.) for the specified value
1 using the binary search algorithm. The array must be sorted prior to making this call.
This returns index of the search key, if it is contained in the list; otherwise, it returns ( –
(insertion point + 1)).
public static boolean equals(long[] a, long[] a2)

Returns true if the two specified arrays of longs are equal to one another. Two arrays
are considered equal if both arrays contain the same number of elements, and all
2
corresponding pairs of elements in the two arrays are equal. This returns true if the
two arrays are equal. Same method could be used by all other primitive data types
(Byte, short, Int, etc.)
public static void fill(int[] a, int val)

3 Assigns the specified int value to each element of the specified array of ints. The same
method could be used by all other primitive data types (Byte, short, Int, etc.)
public static void sort(Object[] a)

Sorts the specified array of objects into an ascending order, according to the natural
4
ordering of its elements. The same method could be used by all other primitive data
types ( Byte, short, Int, etc.)

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Declaring Array Variables

dataType[] arrayRefVar; // preferred way.

double[] myList; // preferred way.

arrayRefVar = new dataType[arraySize];

The above statement does two things −

It creates an array using new dataType[arraySize].

dataType[] arrayRefVar = new dataType[arraySize];

Alternatively you can create arrays as follows −

dataType[] arrayRefVar = {value0, value1, ..., valuek};

double[] myList = new double[10];

Example: Creating, Iterating and Performing Other Operations on

public class TestArray {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Print all the array elements

// Summing all elements

// Finding the largest element

if (myList[i] > max) max = myList[i];

This will produce the following result −

The foreach Loops with Arrays

Example: Displaying All Elements of an Arrays

public class TestArray {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Print all the array elements

This will produce the following result −

Passing Arrays to Methods

public static void printArray(int[] array) {

printArray(new int[]{3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 2});

Returning an Array from a Method

public static int[] reverse(int[] list) {

for (int i = 0, j = result.length - 1; i < list.length; i++, j--) {

The Arrays Class

Sr.No. Method & Description

public static int binarySearch(Object[] a, Object key)

public static boolean equals(long[] a, long[] a2)

public static void fill(int[] a, int val)

public static void sort(Object[] a)

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