C# Arrays

Like other programming languages, array in C# is a group of similar types of elements that have contiguous memory location. In C#, array is an object of base type System.Array. In C#, array index starts from 0. We can store only fixed set of elements in C# array.

Advantages of C# Array

• Code Optimization (less code)
• Random Access
• Easy to traverse data
• Easy to manipulate data
• Easy to sort data etc.

Disadvantages of C# Array

• Fixed size

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C# Array Types

There are 3 types of arrays in C# programming:

1. Single Dimensional Array
2. Multidimensional Array
3. Jagged Array

C# Single Dimensional Array

To create single dimensional array, you need to use square brackets [] after the type.

1. int[] arr = new int[5];//creating array  

You cannot place square brackets after the identifier.

1. int arr[] = new int[5];//compile time error  

Let's see a simple example of C# array, where we are going to declare, initialize and traverse array.

1. using System;  
2. public class ArrayExample  
3. {  
4.     public static void Main(string[] args)  
5.     {  
6.         int[] arr = new int[5];//creating array  
7.         arr[0] = 10;//initializing array  
8.         arr[2] = 20;  
9.         arr[4] = 30;  
10.   
11.         //traversing array  
12.         for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)  
13.         {  
14.             Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);  
15.         }  
16.     }  
17. }  

Output:

10
0
20
0
30

C# Array Example: Declaration and Initialization at same time

There are 3 ways to initialize array at the time of declaration.

1. int[] arr = new int[5]{ 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };  

We can omit the size of array.

1. int[] arr = new int[]{ 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };  

We can omit the new operator also.

1. int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };  

Let's see the example of array where we are declaring and initializing array at the same time.

1. using System;  
2. public class ArrayExample  
3. {  
4.     public static void Main(string[] args)  
5.     {  
6.         int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//Declaration and Initialization of array  
7.    
8.         //traversing array  
9.         for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)  
10.         {  
11.             Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);  
12.         }  
13.     }  
14. }  

Output:

10
20
30
40
50

C# Array Example: Traversal using foreach loop

We can also traverse the array elements using foreach loop. It returns array element one by one.

1. using System;  
2. public class ArrayExample  
3. {  
4.     public static void Main(string[] args)  
5.     {  
6.         int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//creating and initializing array  
7.    
8.         //traversing array  
9.         foreach (int i in arr)  
10.         {  
11.             Console.WriteLine(i);  
12.         }  
13.     }  
14. }  

Output:

10
20
30
40
50