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

C# Array Types

There are 3 types of arrays in C# programming:

Single Dimensional Array
Multidimensional Array
Jagged Array

C# Single Dimensional Array

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

snippet

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

You cannot place square brackets after the identifier.

snippet

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

Example #1

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

snippet

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] arr = new int[5];//creating array
        arr[0] = 10;//initializing array
        arr[2] = 20;
        arr[4] = 30;

        //traversing array
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
        }
    }
}

Output

10 0 20 0 30

Declaration and Initialization at same time

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

snippet

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

We can omit the size of array.

snippet

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

We can omit the new operator also.

snippet

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

Example #2

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

snippet

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//Declaration and Initialization of array
 
        //traversing array
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
        }
    }
}

Output

10 20 30 40 50

Traversal using foreach loop

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

Example #3

snippet

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//creating and initializing array
 
        //traversing array
        foreach (int i in arr)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(i);
        }
    }
}

Output

10 20 30 40 50