C Array
An array is defined as the collection of similar type of data items stored at contiguous
memory locations. Arrays are the derived data type in C programming language which can
store the primitive type of data such as int, char, double, float, etc. It also has the capability
to store the collection of derived data types, such as pointers, structure, etc. The array is the
simplest data structure where each data element can be randomly accessed by using its
index number.
C array is beneficial if you have to store similar elements. For example, if we want to store
the marks of a student in 6 subjects, then we don't need to define different variables for the
marks in the different subject. Instead of that, we can define an array which can store the
marks in each subject at the contiguous memory locations.
By using the array, we can access the elements easily. Only a few lines of code are
required to access the elements of the array.
Properties of Array
The array contains the following properties.
o Each element of an array is of same data type and carries the same size, i.e., int
= 4 bytes.
o Elements of the array are stored at contiguous memory locations where the first
element is stored at the smallest memory location.
o Elements of the array can be randomly accessed since we can calculate the
address of each element of the array with the given base address and the size of
the data element.
Advantage of C Array
1) Code Optimization: Less code to the access the data.
2) Ease of traversing: By using the for loop, we can retrieve the elements of an array
easily.
3) Ease of sorting: To sort the elements of the array, we need a few lines of code only.
4) Random Access: We can access any element randomly using the array.
Disadvantage of C Array
1) Fixed Size: Whatever size, we define at the time of declaration of the array, we can't
exceed the limit. So, it doesn't grow the size dynamically like LinkedList which we will learn
later.
