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Summary - Arrays

C# course · Beginner · Lesson 58/116

Use single-dimensional and matrix arrays to write a grade table.

Summary - Arrays

In this group you learned one-dimensional arrays, index access, .Length, the int[,] matrix and the int[][] jagged array. Now you will combine them to write a grade table.

Across two exercises you will first walk a grades array with for and print each grade, then read a specific cell from a two-row matrix. One-dimensional and multi-dimensional arrays appear side by side here.

Exercise Print grades with for

Declare a grades array with the value { 70, 85, 90 }. Use the pattern for (int i = 0; i < grades.Length; i++) to print each element with Console.WriteLine(grades[i]). The output should be 70, 85, 90.

Show example solution
Write int[] grades = { 70, 85, 90 }; for (int i = 0; i < grades.Length; i++) { Console.WriteLine(grades[i]); }
Example solution:
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        int[] grades = { 70, 85, 90 };
        for (int i = 0; i < grades.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(grades[i]);
        }
    }
}

Exercise Read a cell from the matrix

Declare a table matrix with the value { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 } }. Print table[0, 1] with Console.WriteLine. The output should be 2.

Show example solution
Write int[,] table = { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 } }; and print it with Console.WriteLine(table[0, 1]);
Example solution:
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        int[,] table = { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 4, 5, 6 } };
        Console.WriteLine(table[0, 1]);
    }
}

The arrays side by side

You now know three array types: the one-dimensional int[], the matrix int[,] and the jagged int[][]. Which one to pick depends on the shape of the data.

For one-dimensional ordered data use int[]; for row-and-column data int[,]; for rows of different sizes int[][]. Use .Length and GetLength to safely check bounds.

Test yourself

  1. With int[] nums = {10, 20, 30}; which safely accesses the last element?

    int[] nums = {10, 20, 30};
    Console.WriteLine(nums[?]);
    • nums[3]
    • nums[nums.Length - 1]
    • nums[2]
    • nums[nums.Length]
    Show answer

    nums[nums.Length - 1] — Correct. nums.Length - 1 always gives the last index; it works even if the size changes.

  2. Complete the last-element access

    int[] nums = {1, 2, 3, 4};
    int last = nums[nums.____ - 1];
    Show answer
    int[] nums = {1, 2, 3, 4};
    int last = nums[nums.Length - 1];

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