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Arrays

The Collections Framework

A collection — sometimes called a container — is simply an object that groups multiple elements into a single unit. Collections are used to store, retrieve, manipulate, and communicate aggregate data. Typically, they represent data items that form a natural group, such as a poker hand (a collection of cards), a mail folder (a collection of letters), or a telephone directory (a mapping of names to phone numbers).

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/collections/index.html

Java provides a Collections Framework, a set of classes in the java.util package, that enable the programmer to store and manipulate data in various ways. This library makes it very easy for the programmer to create and manipulate collections of information. Additionally, the implementations are optimized for efficiency. Many other programming languages also support a similar library.

Though having such a library makes life easier for the programmer, it is extremely important that students learn how such libraries are implemented.

Arrays

The array is the most basic type of collection. Though other types of collections are easier to use, we'll begin with arrays. It is very important for you to understand how to use and manipulate arrays.

An array allows the programmer to store a list of elements, all of the same type , in a contiguous block of memory. The size of an array must be specified when it is instantiated and cannot change.

Declaring Arrays

An array declaration creates a reference to the first element of the array. The declaration includes the type of the elements that will be stored in the array, a name for the array, and the square brackets ([]) specify that the variable will be an array. 

   int[] numbers;
The previous example declares a reference to the array, but does not instantiate the array. Note that the example does not specify the size of the array. To instantiate the array, the new operator must be used. 

         //declare a reference to the array
         

         int[] numbers;
         

         

         //instantiate an array of 10 integers
         

         numbers = new int[10];
         

         

         //alternative: declare and instantiate all at once
         

         double[] scores = new double[10];
It is also possible to assign values to each position of an array at the time of instantiation. The initializer list is used for this purpose: 

         //declare an array of size 5 called numbers and
         

         //initialize its elements to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
         

         //respectively
         

         int[] numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

Accessing Array Elements

Each array element has a subscript that identifies its position in the array. It is extremely important to remember that the subscripts begin at 0. Therefore, an array of size 5 would have subscripts 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. To access an array element, specify the name of the array followed by the element's subscript in square brackets. The subscript may also be represented by an int variable or expression that results in an int value. 

         int firstElement = numbers[0];
         

         System.out.println("The second score is " + scores[1]);
         

         int toChange = 3;
         

         numbers[toChange+1] = 75; //use the assignment operator to change a value

If your program attempts to access an array element that does not exist, you will experience a runtime ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException. Make sure that the number you place between the square brackets is a valid index for the given array.

Arrays and Loops

Arrays and for loops go hand in hand. It is quite common to use a for loop to iterate through every element of an array and perform a specific action. The example below initializes every element of the array numbers to 100.

int[] numbers = new int[10]; 
         for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
         

         numbers[i] = 100;
         

         }
Notice that the length of an array can be retrieved by using the dot operator to access the member length . However, it is important to note that the length of an array is the total number of elements one can store in the array. It is certainly possible that the number of valid elements in an array is smaller than the total number of elements the array can store. In this case, it is common to keep a separate integer variable to represent the number of valid elements in an array as shown below .

int count = 0;
int[] array = new int[5];
array[count++] = 4;
array[count++] = 12;
for(int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
     System.out.println(array[i]);
}


Arrays and Methods

A single array element can be passed to a method, as can an entire array. If an entire array is passed into a method, a reference to the original array is passed. As a result, any changes made to the array by the method will be reflected in the caller. 

         public class ArraySamples {
         

         public static void printOne(int oneNumber) {
         

         System.out.println(oneNumber);
         

         }
         

         

         public static void printAll(int[] manyNumbers) {
         

         for(int i = 0; i < manyNumbers.length; i++) {
         

         System.out.println(manyNumbers[i]);
         

         }
         

         manyNumbers[0] = 1000; //perhaps a mistake?
         

         }
         

         

         public static void main(String[] args) {
         

         int[] numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
         

         printOne(numbers[3]);
         

         printAll(numbers);
         

         System.out.println(numbers[0]);  //prints 1000
         

         }
         

         }

Arrays of Objects

Each element of an array may be an object, not simply a primitive type. In this case, the array variable is a reference to a list of references . Each element of the array is a reference to an object. When the array itself is created, the objects are not instantiated (as shown below). 

        //assume a class Name exists
        

        Name[] names = new Name[5];

 

Below, we create two new objects of type Name and place their addresses in positions 0 and 1 of the array, respectively. 

        names[0] = new Name("Bob", "Smith");
        

        names[1] = new Name("Jane", "Wu");

 

Inserting Elements into a Sorted Array

Often, it is necessary to maintain a sorted array of elements. In this case, adding a new element to the array can be quite a challenge. If the element's value dictates that it should be inserted anywhere but in the rightmost position, the insert procedure must shift the the right all elements that come after the element to be inserted. The following example implements a procedure to insert an element in the first position of the array. 

         /**
         

         * Takes as input a newValue and inserts it at position 0 of the array values.
         

         * If the array is full, the method does nothing.
         

         * @param newValue - the new value to insert at position 0
         

         */
         

         public void insertAtZero(int newValue) {
         

         //this method would be implemented in a class with a data member
         

         //values and a data member count
         

         if(count >= values.length) {
         

         return;
         

         }
         

         for(int i = count; i > 0; i--) {
         

         values[i] = values[i-1];
         

         }
         

         values[0] = newValue;
         

         count++;
         

         }

Notice that the method returns in the case that the array is full. Clearly, this solution is less than optimal. It is quite common to implement such an insertion procedure such that if the array is full, the method will allocate a new array larger than the current array and copy all of the elements from the current array into the new array. Keep in mind that the reference to the old array must then be changed to refer to the new array.

Deleting Elements from a Sorted Array

Similar to insertion, deletion of elements from a sorted array requires that all elements to the right of the element removed be moved to the left one position. The following example illustrates a procedure to delete the element at position 0 of an array. 

         /**
         

         * Takes as input an array and the number of elements in the array and
         

         * removes the element at position 0.  If there are no elements in the
         

         * array, the method does nothing.
         

         * @param values - the array of values
         

         * @param count - the number of values stored in the array
         

         */
         

         public void removeFromZero(int[] values, int count) {
         

         if (count <= 0) {
         

         return;
         

         }
         

         for(int i = 0; i < (count-1); i++) {
         

         values[i] = values[i+1];
         

         }
         

         }

Two-Dimensional Arrays

Java also supports two-dimensional arrays. All of the data in a two-dimensional array must be of the same type. However, you can imagine the data stored in a matrix of several rows and columns. To declare a two-dimensional array, you simply use two sets of square brackets. Similarly, the access and modify elements of a two-dimensional array, you must specify the element's row and column. 

         //declare a 2D array with 5 rows and 10 columns
         

         //the array might represent 10 homework scores for each
         

         //of 5 students
         

         double[][] scores = new double[5][10];
         

         scores[0][0] = 90;

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