C# Arrays

Like other programming languages, array in C# is a group of similar types of elements that have contiguous memory location. In C#, array is an object of base type System.Array. In C#, array index starts from 0. We can store only fixed set of elements in C# array.

Advantages of C# Array

Code Optimization (less code)
Random Access
Easy to traverse data
Easy to manipulate data
Easy to sort data etc.

Disadvantages of C# Array

Fixed size

C# Array Types

There are 3 types of arrays in C# programming:

Single Dimensional Array
Multidimensional Array
Jagged Array

C# Single Dimensional Array

To create single dimensional array, you need to use square brackets [] after the type.

You cannot place square brackets after the identifier.

Let's see a simple example of C# array, where we are going to declare, initialize and traverse array.

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] arr = new int[5];//creating array
        arr[0] = 10;//initializing array
        arr[2] = 20;
        arr[4] = 30;

        //traversing array
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
        }
    }
}

Output:

C# Array Example: Declaration and Initialization at same time

There are 3 ways to initialize array at the time of declaration.

We can omit the size of array.

We can omit the new operator also.

Let's see the example of array where we are declaring and initializing array at the same time.

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//Declaration and Initialization of array
 
        //traversing array
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(arr[i]);
        }
    }
}

Output:

C# Array Example: Traversal using foreach loop

We can also traverse the array elements using foreach loop. It returns array element one by one.

using System;
public class ArrayExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] arr = { 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 };//creating and initializing array
 
        //traversing array
        foreach (int i in arr)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(i);
        }
    }
}

Output: