Array

In computer programming, an array, also known as a vector or list (for one-dimensional arrays) or a matrix (for two-dimensional arrays), is one of the simplest data structures. Arrays hold a series of data elements, usually of the same size and data type. Individual elements are accessed by their position in the array. The position is given by an index, which is also called a subscript. The index usually uses a consecutive range of integers, (as opposed to an associative array) but the index can have any ordinal set of values. Some arrays are multi-dimensional, meaning they are indexed by a fixed number of integers, for example by a tuple of four integers. Generally, one- and two-dimensional arrays are the most common.

Most programming languages have arrays as a built-in data type. Some programming languages (such as APL, some versions of Fortran, and J) generalize the available operations and functions to work transparently over arrays as well as scalars, providing a higher-level manipulation than most other languages, which require loops over all the individual members of the arrays.

See Also

s@rdalya's Array prototype add-ons.