{"id":247,"date":"2022-01-01T15:25:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T08:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csharptutorial.net\/?page_id=247"},"modified":"2022-01-01T15:25:56","modified_gmt":"2022-01-01T08:25:56","slug":"csharp-multidimensional-array","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.csharptutorial.net\/csharp-tutorial\/csharp-multidimensional-array\/","title":{"rendered":"C# Multidimensional Arrays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you’ll learn about C# multidimensional arrays, including 2D and 3D arrays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to C# multidimensional arrays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the array tutorial<\/a>, you learned how to create an array with one dimension. C# allows you to define an array with multiple dimensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When an array has more than one dimension, it is called a multidimensional array.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following example declares a two-dimensional array (or 2D array) of two rows and three columns<\/p>\n\n\n

int<\/span> [,] matrix = new<\/span> int<\/span>[2<\/span>, 3<\/span>];<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The comma (,<\/code>) inside the square brackets denotes the number of dimensions. If you want to declare a three-dimensional array (or 3D array), you can use two commas (,<\/code>) like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,,] tensor = new<\/span> int<\/span>[3<\/span>, 3<\/span>, 3<\/span>];<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Initializing C# multidimensional arrays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The following example shows how to initialize a two-dimensional array with two rows and three columns:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,] matrix = new<\/span> int<\/span>[2<\/span>, 3<\/span>] {\n    { 1<\/span>, 2<\/span>, 3<\/span> }, \n    { 4<\/span>, 5<\/span>, 6<\/span> }, \n};<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Or you can make it shorter but less obvious like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,] matrix = {\n    { 1<\/span>, 2<\/span>, 3<\/span> }, \n    { 4<\/span>, 5<\/span>, 6<\/span> }, \n};<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
And the following example shows how to initialize an array of three dimensions 2, 2, and 3:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,,] tensor = new<\/span> int<\/span>[2<\/span>,2<\/span>,3<\/span>] { \n    { { 1<\/span>, 2<\/span>, 3<\/span> }, { 4<\/span>, 5<\/span>, 6<\/span> } },\n    { { 7<\/span>, 8<\/span>, 9<\/span> }, { 10<\/span>, 11<\/span>, 12<\/span> } } \n};<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
It’s the same as the following:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,,] tensor = { \n    { { 1<\/span>, 2<\/span>, 3<\/span> }, { 4<\/span>, 5<\/span>, 6<\/span> } },\n    { { 7<\/span>, 8<\/span>, 9<\/span> }, { 10<\/span>, 11<\/span>, 12<\/span> } } \n};<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Accessing array elements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To access an element in the multidimensional array, you use a comma-separated list of dimensions inside the square brackets. The first dimension starts at zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, the following example accesses the row 0 column 1 of a two-dimensional array:<\/p>\n\n\n
array2D[0<\/span>,1<\/span>]<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Similarly, you can specify the dimensions in a 3D array like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
array3D[0<\/span>,1<\/span>,2<\/span>]<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The following example shows how to access the elements at row 0 column 0 and row 1 and column 2 of a 2D array:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,] matrix = {\n    {1<\/span>,2<\/span>,3<\/span>},\n    {4<\/span>,5<\/span>,6<\/span>},\n    {7<\/span>,8<\/span>,9<\/span>},\n};\n\n\/\/ row 0 column 0<\/span>\nConsole.WriteLine(matrix[0<\/span>, 0<\/span>]); \/\/ 1<\/span>\n\n\/\/ row 1 column 2<\/span>\nConsole.WriteLine(matrix[1<\/span>, 2<\/span>]); \/\/ 6<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
1<\/span>\n6<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Getting dimension length<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The GetLength method of an array returns the length of a dimension. The first dimension starts at zero. The following example declares a 2D array, initialize its elements, and output all the elements to the console:<\/p>\n\n\n
int<\/span>[,] matrix = new<\/span> int<\/span>[3<\/span>, 3<\/span>];\n\n\/\/ assign integers to the 2D array<\/span>\nfor<\/span> (int<\/span> i = 0<\/span>; i < matrix.GetLength(0<\/span>); i++)\n{\n    for<\/span> (int<\/span> j = 0<\/span>; j < matrix.GetLength(1<\/span>); j++)\n    {\n        matrix[i, j] = i + j;\n    }\n}\n\n\n\/\/ output the 2D array<\/span>\nfor<\/span> (int<\/span> i = 0<\/span>; i < matrix.GetLength(0<\/span>); i++)\n{\n    for<\/span> (int<\/span> j = 0<\/span>; j < matrix.GetLength(1<\/span>); j++)\n    {\n        Console.Write($\"{matrix[i, j]}<\/span>\"<\/span>);\n        Console.Write(j < matrix.GetLength(1<\/span>) - 1<\/span> ? \",\"<\/span> : \"\"<\/span>);\n    }\n    Console.WriteLine();\n}\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
0<\/span>,1<\/span>,2<\/span>\n1<\/span>,2<\/span>,3<\/span>\n2<\/span>,3<\/span>,4<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • A multidimensional array is an array with more than on dimension.<\/li><\/ul>\n
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