[java] Initialising a multidimensional array in Java

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";

You can also use the following construct:

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

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]);
           }
       }
   }
   

 int[][] myNums = { {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, {5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} };
 for (int x = 0; x < myNums.length; ++x) {
    for(int y = 0; y < myNums[i].length; ++y) {
       System.out.print(myNums[x][y]);
    }
 }

Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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]]]"

Useful articles

• Java: Initializing a multidimensional array
• Java: Matrices and Multidimensional Arrays

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.

You can declare multi dimensional arrays like :

// 4 x 5 String arrays, all Strings are null
// [0] -> [null,null,null,null,null]
// [1] -> [null,null,null,null,null]
// [2] -> [null,null,null,null,null]
// [3] -> [null,null,null,null,null]

String[][] sa1 = new String[4][5];
for(int i = 0; i < sa1.length; i++) {           // sa1.length == 4
    for (int j = 0; j < sa1[i].length; j++) {     //sa1[i].length == 5
        sa1[i][j] = "new String value";
    }
}


// 5 x 0  All String arrays are null
// [null]
// [null]
// [null]
// [null]
// [null]
String[][] sa2 = new String[5][];
for(int i = 0; i < sa2.length; i++) {
    String[] anon = new String[ /* your number here */];
    // or String[] anon = new String[]{"I'm", "a", "new", "array"};
    sa2[i] = anon;
}

// [0] -> ["I'm","in","the", "0th", "array"]
// [1] -> ["I'm", "in", "another"]
String[][] sa3 = new String[][]{ {"I'm","in","the", "0th", "array"},{"I'm", "in", "another"}};