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Arrays

Arrays are a very important part to managing data on a large scale.
  • An array is usually declared just like any other data type.
  • Instead of containing one type of value, it contains any number of values.
  • Some programming languages require you to specify the maximum length of your array.
  • Typically each element, or variable, of the array has the same data type.
  • Most programming languages only allow one type or another, some allow both. Usually languages that allow both will only have one array with the properties of both types.
  • Different kinds of arrays:

    Standard/numeric array
  • Each element of the array is indexed, or identified, by a number.
  • Elements can be added at the begining or the end of an array and the index of the items inside will change.
  • Generally considered to be the fastest and most effective form of array.
  • The first element's index is 0 by default

  • Example:
    var Players = new Array("Ron", "Sarah", "Omar");
          or
    var Players = new Array();
    Players[0] = "Ron";
    Players[1] = "Sarah";
    Players[2] = "Omar";


    var Position = [200, 400];

    Associative Array
    (also known as a hash table)
  • Each element is indexed with a string (sometimes called a key).
  • The index string must be specified when the array element is declared, otherwise the array will use a numeric index.
  • Although slower, this format of array allows you link multiple arrays more easily.

  • Example:
    var ZipFiles = new Array();
    var TxtFiles = new Array();
    var ExeFiles = new Array();

    var Files = new Array();
    var Files["zip"] = ZipFiles;
    var Files["txt"] = TxtFiles;
    var Files["exe"] = ExeFiles;

    var FileTypes = ["zip", "txt", "exe"];
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