Arrays are contiguous blocks of memory used to group similar objects for easy organization and access in computer programs. Objects in an array must be of the same type, and arrays can be multidimensional. Programming languages differ in their implementation of arrays, but grouping array objects is an important tool for organizing data.
An array object is data contained in a specific location within a contiguous block of memory. These blocks of memory are called arrays and are used to group similar objects together for easy organization and access within a computer program. The position of an object in an array is called an index; in most computer languages, the index of the first object starts at 0, rather than 1. An object need not be present at every index of an array. For example, an array might have room for five objects, but only have objects positioned at indices 0, 2, and 3.
All objects in an array must be of the same type, so if you declare an array to contain strings, each array object must be a string. An array object can be of any size and contain any type of data, as long as the general object type is the one declared by the array. A string array might contain a string that is 50 characters long, and the next index might be 50,000 characters long; only their types matter. Array objects can be simple types, such as a number or string, or any type of complex object.
Under certain circumstances, an array object can be a completely new array. When an array contains an object that is itself an array, the containing array is called a multidimensional array. There are two types of array objects in multidimensional arrays: array objects that are arrays themselves, and objects that contain child arrays. All of the previous type rules apply to multidimensional arrays, so if an array object is also an array, all other objects must also be arrays. This nesting of arrays can be done as many times as needed, creating two-dimensional grids, three-dimensional cubes, or top-level data clusters.
Arrays and the type of array object allowed within them differ somewhat between programming languages. Some languages allow complete control over arrays and their objects, allowing a programmer to create them at will. Others hide arrays and objects inside wrappers that allow a programmer to manipulate them indirectly. Still other languages have special constructs that force an array to see all objects as the same type, partially invalidating its type-specificity rule without breaking the underlying data. Regardless of how arrays are implemented, array objects themselves are never affected except to be grouped, and the ability to group array objects is an important tool in organizing data.
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