Array Data Structure

What Does Array Data Structure Mean?

An array data structure is a fundamental element of computer programming that creates collections of individual elements, each of which has its own array index or key. Arrays are handy ways to store various bits of group information in nearly any common programming language.

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Techopedia Explains Array Data Structure

To understand an array, let us take a look at an example in Microsoft Visual Basic. First, the array would be dimensioned as something like “a – 1 to 10.”

After that, the user would access, amend, change or identify the contents of this array using the array tag “a” followed by number inferences: a(1), a(2), etc.

The array is basically a shorthand for keeping the collection of data objects. Rather than dimensioning each one as a dynamic variable, one can just create the entire array and then fill those boxes with variables. This type of naming convention is very common and can even be used in new artificial intelligence and machine learning structures that are dealing with enormous volumes of data. For example, instead of creating a thousand different variables, the array size can be enlarged to fit all of those variable values into one collection or group.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…