Initialising a multidimensional array in Java

Question

What is the correct way to declare a multidimensional array and assign values to it?

This is what I have:

int x = 5;
int y = 5;

String[][] myStringArray = new String [x][y];

myStringArray[0][x] = "a string";
myStringArray[0][y] = "another string";

Answer 1

Java doesn't have "true" multidimensional arrays.

For example, arr[i][j][k] is equivalent to ((arr[i])[j])[k]. In other words, arr is simply an array, of arrays, of arrays.

So, if you know how arrays work, you know how multidimensional arrays work!

---

Declaration:

int[][][] threeDimArr = new int[4][5][6];

or, with initialization:

int[][][] threeDimArr = { { { 1, 2 }, { 3, 4 } }, { { 5, 6 }, { 7, 8 } } };

---

Access:

int x = threeDimArr[1][0][1];

or

int[][] row = threeDimArr[1];

---

String representation:

Arrays.deepToString(threeDimArr);

yields

"[[[1, 2], [3, 4]], [[5, 6], [7, 8]]]"

Answer 2

I'll add that if you want to read the dimensions, you can do this:

int[][][] a = new int[4][3][2];

System.out.println(a.length);  // 4
System.out.println(a[0].length); // 3
System.out.println(a[0][0].length); //2

You can also have jagged arrays, where different rows have different lengths, so a[0].length != a[1].length.

Answer 3

You can look at this to start off:

    int [][][] i = {                //third dimension curly brace
                     {               // second dimension curly brace
                        {            //first dimension curly brace
                           1,1,1    //elements
                        },           
                    {3,3,3},    
                    {2,2,2}     
                      },
                      {
                         {
                          1,1,1
                         },
                         {3,3,3},
                         {2,2,2}
                       }
                    };      

Answer 4

Multidimensional Array in Java

Returning a multidimensional array

Java does not truely support multidimensional arrays. In Java, a two-dimensional array is simply an array of arrays, a three-dimensional array is an array of arrays of arrays, a four-dimensional array is an array of arrays of arrays of arrays, and so on...

We can define a two-dimensional array as:

1. int[ ] num[ ] = {{1,2}, {1,2}, {1,2}, {1,2}}

2. int[ ][ ] num = new int[4][2]

   num[0][0] = 1;
   num[0][1] = 2;
   num[1][0] = 1;
   num[1][1] = 2;
   num[2][0] = 1;
   num[2][1] = 2;
   num[3][0] = 1;
   num[3][1] = 2;
   

   If you don't allocate, let's say num[2][1], it is not initialized and then it is automatically allocated 0, that is, automatically num[2][1] = 0;

3. Below, num1.length gives you rows.

4. While num1[0].length gives you the number of elements related to num1[0]. Here num1[0] has related arrays num1[0][0] and num[0][1] only.

5. Here we used a for loop which helps us to calculate num1[i].length. Here i is incremented through a loop.

   class array
   {
       static int[][] add(int[][] num1,int[][] num2)
       {
           int[][] temp = new int[num1.length][num1[0].length];
           for(int i = 0; i<temp.length; i++)
           {
               for(int j = 0; j<temp[i].length; j++)
               {
                   temp[i][j] = num1[i][j]+num2[i][j];
               }
           }
           return temp;
       }
   
       public static void main(String args[])
       {
           /* We can define a two-dimensional array as
                1.  int[] num[] = {{1,2},{1,2},{1,2},{1,2}}
                2.  int[][] num = new int[4][2]
                    num[0][0] = 1;
                    num[0][1] = 2;
                    num[1][0] = 1;
                    num[1][1] = 2;
                    num[2][0] = 1;
                    num[2][1] = 2;
                    num[3][0] = 1;
                    num[3][1] = 2;
   
                    If you don't allocate let's say num[2][1] is
                    not initialized, and then it is automatically
                    allocated 0, that is, automatically num[2][1] = 0;
                 3. Below num1.length gives you rows
                 4. While num1[0].length gives you number of elements
                    related to num1[0]. Here num1[0] has related arrays
                    num1[0][0] and num[0][1] only.
                 5. Here we used a 'for' loop which helps us to calculate
                    num1[i].length, and here i is incremented through a loop.
           */
           int num1[][] = {{1,2},{1,2},{1,2},{1,2}};
           int num2[][] = {{1,2},{1,2},{1,2},{1,2}};
   
           int num3[][] = add(num1,num2);
           for(int i = 0; i<num1.length; i++)
           {
               for(int j = 0; j<num1[j].length; j++)
                   System.out.println("num3[" + i + "][" + j + "]=" + num3[i][j]);
           }
       }
   }
   

Answer 5

Try replacing the appropriate lines with:

myStringArray[0][x-1] = "a string";
myStringArray[0][y-1] = "another string";

Your code is incorrect because the sub-arrays have a length of y, and indexing starts at 0. So setting to myStringArray[0][y] or myStringArray[0][x] will fail because the indices x and y are out of bounds.

String[][] myStringArray = new String [x][y]; is the correct way to initialise a rectangular multidimensional array. If you want it to be jagged (each sub-array potentially has a different length) then you can use code similar to this answer. Note however that John's assertion that you have to create the sub-arrays manually is incorrect in the case where you want a perfectly rectangular multidimensional array.

Answer 6

You can also use the following construct:

String[][] myStringArray = new String [][] { { "X0", "Y0"},
                                             { "X1", "Y1"},
                                             { "X2", "Y2"},
                                             { "X3", "Y3"},
                                             { "X4", "Y4"} };