Single- and Multi-Dimensional Arrays

Single-Dimensional Arrays

A single-dimensional array is the simplest form of data structure that can store a fixed-size sequential collection of elements of the same type.
Also known as one-dimensional array, it represents a list of variables sharing the same datatype.
Each element in this array is associated with a unique index that allows direct access to the element.
In programming, index usually starts with zero, meaning the first element of the array has an index of 0, the second has an index of 1, and so on.
Traversal of a single-dimensional array can be accomplished using a looping construct such as a for loop.
A common operation on single-dimensional arrays is sorting, which arranges elements in a certain order (ascending or descending).

A multi-dimensional array is a data structure that can store data in a matrix form consisting of rows and columns.
A two-dimensional (2D) array is the simplest form of multi-dimensional arrays. It is equivalent to an array of single-dimensional arrays.
Multi-dimensional arrays can be visualised as an array of arrays, or ‘a table with rows and columns’.
Just like the single dimensional array, each element in a multi-dimensional array is identified with an index, which is actually a set of indices. Each set corresponds to a row and a column.
A common way to traverse a multi-dimensional array is by using nested loops. The outer loop typically represents rows and the inner loop represents columns.
Multi-dimensional arrays can be applied in numerous real-world scenarios, such as representation of a chess board (8 x 8), or storing an image (which has width and height, and sometimes layers for colours).
When dealing with multi-dimensional arrays, it is important to understand the concept of row-major order and column-major order, which are methods for storing multi-dimensional arrays in linear storage like memory.