Array (data structure): Difference between revisions

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In [[computer programming]], aan '''array''', also known as a [[vector]] or [[list]], is one of the simplest [[data structure]]s. Arrays hold a fixed number of equally-sized data [[element]]s, generally of the same [[data type]]. Individual elements are accessed by index using a consecutive range of [[integer]]s, as opposed to an [[associative array]]. Some arrays are ''multi-dimensional'', meaning they are indexed by a fixed number of integers, for example by a [[tuple]] of two integers; one- and two-dimensional arrays are the most common.

Most [[programming language]]s have arrays as a built-in data type. Some programming languages (such as [[APL programming language|APL]] and [[J programming language|J]]) generalize the available operations and functions to work transparently over arrays as well as scalars, providing a higher-level manipulation than most other languages, which require loops over all the individual members of the arrays.