AN INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING

THROUGH C++

with
Manoj Prabhakaran

Lecture 12
Arrays

Based on material developed by Prof. Abhiram G. Ranade

 Example: Counting
¥ To read in a word (lower case) and count the occurrences of each vowel
#include <iostream>
using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl;
int main() { But, what if you wanted
int Na=0, Ne=0, Ni=0, No=0, Nu=0; char c; to count the occurrences
for(cin >> c; c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'; cin >> c) { of each character in the
alphabet?
if (c == 'a') ++Na;
else if (c == 'e') ++Ne;
26 counters!
else if (c == 'i') ++Ni;
else if (c == 'o') ++No;
else if (c == 'u') ++Nu;
}
cout << "#a = " << Na << ", #e = " << Ne << ", #i = " << Ni
<< ", #o = " << No << ", #u = " << Nu << endl;
}
 Example: Palindrome
¥ Read in an 8-letter word and check if it is a palindrome
#include <iostream>
using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl;
int main() {
But, what if you wanted
bool palindrome = true; to check a 100 letter
char c1, c2, c3, c4, next; string?
cin >> c1 >> c2 >> c3 >> c4;
if ( (cin >> next, next != c4) 50 variables!
|| (cin >> next, next != c3)
|| (cin >> next, next != c2)
|| (cin >> next, next != c1) )
cout << "Not a palindrome!" << endl;
else
cout << "Palindrome!" << endl;
}
 Example: Sorting
¥ Read in 3 numbers and print them in order
#include <iostream>
using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl;
int main() { To sort n numbers, this
int a1, a2, a3; will need n! checks!
cin >> a1 >> a2 >> a3;
if (a1 <= a2 && a2 <= a3)
cout << a1 << ", " << a2 << ", " << a3 << endl;
else if (a1 <= a3 && a3 <= a2)
cout << a1 << ", " << a3 << ", " << a2 << endl;
else if (a2 <= a3 && a3 <= a1)
cout << a2 << ", " << a3 << ", " << a1 << endl;
else if (a2 <= a1 && a1 <= a3)
cout << a2 << ", " << a1 << ", " << a3 << endl;
else if (a3 <= a1 && a1 <= a2)
cout << a3 << ", " << a1 << ", " << a2 << endl;
else if (a3 <= a2 && a2 <= a1)
cout << a3 << ", " << a2 << ", " << a1 << endl;
}
 Example: Sorting
¥ Read in 3 numbers and print them in order
#include <iostream>
using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl; using std::swap;
int main() {
int a1, a2, a3; Sorting Network:
cin >> a1 >> a2 >> a3;
a1 a1
if (a1 > a2)
a2 a2
swap(a1,a2);
if (a2 > a3) a3 a3
swap(a2,a3);
if (a1 > a2)
Much better!
swap(a1,a2);
cout << a1 << ", " << a2 << ", " << a3 << endl; But to sort a 100 numbers, will
} need thousands of lines of
code (and quite error prone)!
 Arrays to the Rescue! Demo
¥ Arrays let us declare and use a large number of variables (of the same type)
¥ Declaration syntax: type array_name [ number ] ;
¥ Each variable in the array is referred to using an index: e.g., N[i]
¥ The first element is N[0], and the last element is N[number-1]
int N[26];
for (int i=0; i<26; i++)
É
N[i] = 0;
Index can be any integer valued expression Example: Counting Letters
char c;
for(cin >> c; c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'; cin >> c)
N[c-'a'] ++;
for (char c='a'; c <= 'z'; c++)
cout << "#" << c << " = " << N[c-'a'] << endl;
 Accessing Array Elements
¥ Setting values during initialisation:
¥ Explicitly: int N[3] = {-1,0,1};
¥ Can initialise a few elements, and have the rest all set to 0
¥ int N[26] = {1}; // N[0]=1 and N[i]=0 for i=1 to 25
¥ int N[26] = {}; // all values set to 0
¥ At any point (not just initially), can assign values one by one: e.g., N[i]=i;
¥ There are a few other mechanisms for assigning values in bulk (involving
concepts covered later). E.g., std::fill and std::copy
¥ Cannot assign to an array variable itself
¥ int N[26];
N = N; //error: array type 'int[26]' is not assignable
 Example: Counting Vowels Demo
¥ To read in a word (lower case) and count the occurrences of each vowel
#include <iostream>
using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl;
int main() {
char c, vowels[] = {'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'}; // initialising explicitly
int N[5] = {}; // initialising all elements to 0
for(cin >> c; c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'; cin >> c)
for (int i=0; i<5; i++)
if(c == vowels[i]) {
N[i]++; break;
}
for (int i=0; i<5; i++)
cout << "#" << vowels[i] << " = " << N[i] << (i==4?"":", ");
cout << endl;
}
 Array Bounds
¥ It is the programmer's responsibility (rather than the compiler's) to ensure
that when accessing an array, the index remains within bounds (i.e.,
0 ≤ index ≤ number of elements -1)
¥ E.g., the compiler will not complain/warn about this:
int X[10], n; cin >> n; X[n] = 1;

¥ Instead include a bound-check: if (n>=0 && n<10) X[n]=1; else É

¥ Or enforce index bounds in the program logic (e.g., X[abs(n)%10] )

¥ If the array index is out of bounds, it can cause the program to behave in
unspecified ways (possibly crash, or access other variables)
 Example: Palindrome using Arrays
¥ Read in an n-letter word and check if it is a palindrome
int main() {
const int Nmax = 100; // array size needs to be known at compile time
char text[Nmax];
Many compilers (including g++) allow Variable Length Arrays (VLA) by
int n; cin >> n;
default. But it is not part of the C++ standard. Avoid for portability!
if (n>Nmax) {
cerr << "Text too long!" << endl; return -1;
}
for (int i=0; i<n; i++) cin >> text[i]; // read it all into the array
for (int i=0; i<n/2; i++) {
if (text[i] != text[n-1-i]) {
cout << "Not a palindrome!" << endl; return 1;
}
}
cout << "Palindrome!" << endl;
}
 Example: Palindrome using Arrays Demo
¥ Read in an n-letter word and check if it is a palindrome
int main() {
const int Nmax = 100; // array size needs to be known at compile time
char text[Nmax], tmp;
int n; cin >> n;
if (n>2*Nmax + 1) {
cerr << "Text too long!" << endl; return -1;
}
for (int i=0; i<n/2; i++) cin >> text[i]; // read half into the array
if (n%2) cin >> tmp; // if n odd, ignore the middle character
for (int i=n/2-1; i>=0; i--) { // compare stored characters with rest
if (cin >> tmp, text[i] != tmp) {
cout << "Not a palindrome!" << endl; return 1;
}
}
cout << "Palindrome!" << endl;
}
 Array Type: A Second Look
¥ Array declaration syntax is somewhat unusual
¥ int A[10]; declares a variable called A of type "int[10]"
¥ But the following is invalid syntax: int[10] A; // wrong syntax
¥ However the type int[10] can be given a new name, and it can be used instead
typedef int ints_10 [10]; // now ints_10 stands for int[10]
ints_10 A; // this has the same effect as int A[10];

¥ Can have a reference to an array: ints_10& Z = A;

¥ Syntax without the typedef: int (& Z) [10] = A;
¥ But cannot have an array of references: int& A[10]; // invalid
 Arrays and Functions

¥ A function can take array parameters

void readArray(int A[], int n) {
for (int i=0; i<n; i++) cin >> A[i];
}
¥ Note: the array does not encode its size; needs to be passed separately
¥ Array elements are always passed by reference
¥ Above, modifications to A[i] are reflected in the calling function
¥ A function cannot return an array type
 Example: Sorting Demo
¥ Read in n numbers and print them in order
#include <iostream>
using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl; using std::swap;
void max_to_end(int A[], int n) { // swap max(A[0],..,A[n-1]) with A[n-1]
int maxi=0;
for(int i=1; i<n; i++)
if(A[i] > A[maxi])
maxi = i;
swap(A[maxi],A[n-1]);
}
int main() {
... // read numbers to be sorted into A[0] to A[n-1]
for (int i=n; i>0; i--)
max_to_end(A,i); // call max_to_end on the unsorted part of A
... // print out sorted A
}
 Some Nuances
¥ Syntax allows a function's array parameter to mention a size, but it is
not enforced when called!
¥ E.g., void f(int A[10]); int main(){ int X[2]; f(X); }
compiles without errors or warnings!
typedef int ints_10 [10];
¥ References to arrays are allowed
ints_10& g(ints_10& A, ints_10& B) {
¥ As function parameters return A[0]>B[0] ? A : B;
and as the return type }
int main() {
¥ Can use references to enforce array
ints_10& Z = g(X,Y);
size of parameters. }

¥ E.g., void f(ints_10& A);int main(){int X[2]; f(X);} // error

 Alternatives
¥ Arrays are somewhat restrictive data types
¥ Size of an array must be known at compile time
¥ Even when Variable Length Arrays are supported, it cannot be
changed after the point of declaration
¥ Cannot have expressions which are arrays
¥ In particular, cannot pass an array by value to a function, or have a
function return an array by value
¥ C++ standard library provides programmer-defined data types which are
more flexible
¥ std::array (allows passing/returning by value, simply by wrapping in
a struct) and std::vector (also allows resizing, and more). Later.