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jassy
answered May 1 '23 00:00
a jagged array is an array of arrays, where the length of each sub-array can vary . This is in contrast to a multi-dimensional array, where each sub-array has the same length. Jagged arrays are also sometimes referred to as "ragged arrays" or " variable-length arrays ".
Jagged arrays can be useful in situations where the size of each sub-array is not known in advance, or where the size of the sub-arrays may vary depending on the input data. For example, in a program that processes text files, a jagged array might be used to store the words in each line of the file, with each sub-array representing a different line of text.
In some programming languages, such as C#, jagged arrays are created using array initializer syntax, where each sub-array is initialized separately. For example:
int[][] jaggedArray = new int[][] {
new int[] {1, 2},
new int[] {3, 4, 5},
new int[] {6}
};
In other languages, such as Java, jagged arrays are created using nested array declarations, where each sub-array is declared separately. For example:
int[][] jaggedArray = new int[3][];
jaggedArray[0] = new int[] {1, 2};
jaggedArray[1] = new int[] {3, 4, 5};
jaggedArray[2] = new int[] {6};
Jagged arrays can be more memory-efficient than multi-dimensional arrays , as they only allocate memory for the sub-arrays that are actually needed. However, they can also be less efficient for accessing elements, as each sub-array must be accessed separately.