Arrays in C

Introduction

An array in C is a collection of elements of the same data type stored in contiguous memory locations. Arrays allow programmers to store multiple values under a single name and access them using an index.

---

Key Points

1. Array Declaration

• Syntax: dataType arrayName[size];
• Example: int numbers[5]; // Array of 5 integers

2. Array Initialization

• Assign values during declaration: int numbers[5] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
• Partial initialization: Remaining elements default to 0

3. Accessing Array Elements

• Use indices starting from 0
• Example: printf("%d", numbers[2]); // Outputs 30

4. Types of Arrays

1. Single-dimensional array (1D) – Linear list of elements
2. Multi-dimensional array (2D, 3D) – Matrix-like data storage

5. Advantages

• Stores multiple values in a single variable
• Easy access using indices
• Efficient for iterative processing

6. Limitations

• Fixed size (static arrays)
• Cannot store mixed data types

---

Example Code

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
    int numbers[5] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
    int i;
    for(i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        printf("numbers[%d] = %d\n", i, numbers[i]);
    }
    return 0;
}