What is the importance of using an array in C plus plus programming?

Answer 1

When there is a need of storing a list of same type of large no. of data in linear manner,it is ridiculous to use large no. of different variables.It is more complex also.So in c and c++ array is used.
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Answer 2

Arrays permit constant time random access to any data of the same type. An array is, specifically, one or more blocks of contiguous memory, such that every block holds the same number of elements of the same data type.

Constant time random access is achieved via simple pointer arithmetic Behind the Scenes. That is, each element is indexed as a zero-based offset from the memory address of the first element (at offset 0). Since all elements are intrinsically the same length (in bytes), each offset has a regular period or interval (in bytes). Thus element 5 will always be found at offset 4, the memory address immediately following the 4th element in the array or, to put it another way, <array_name>+(4*sizeof(<data_type>)).

However, one-dimensional arrays must be allocated as a single block of contiguous memory. If a large enough block is not available, the array cannot be instantiated. The only way around this is to break the array up into smaller, regular-sized blocks (each of which is itself a one-dimensional array), and use a separate array of pointers to point to each of these blocks. The array is then essentially a dynamic multi-dimensional array, but the same pointer arithmetic applies, albeit with an extra level of indirection.

While the purpose of an array is to permit fast random access to data of the same type, arrays are not ideal if the amount of data (the number of elements) is dynamic. That is, when every element in an array is consumed, the entire array must be reallocated to accommodate new elements. If it is possible to expand the array in situ, the cost is minimal. However, more often than not, the entire array must be copied to a new, larger block of memory. This requires more than double the memory of the original array until the copy is complete. While this is costly in terms of memory consumption and performance, the aforementioned multi-dimensional allocation technique would allow the array to expand and contract in smaller blocks. Thus only the pointer array itself need be reallocated. Note that shrinking an array to remove redundant elements also incurs a performance penalty, however no additional memory is required (the unused elements are simply released).

Where random access is not a priority, but the amount of data is dynamic, then linked lists are the best alternative to arrays. Linked lists allow constant time access to the first and/or last nodes in the list, but random access is linear time.

Answer 3

An array is an extension of a variable. Whereas a variable only allows us to store one value at a time, an array allows us to store many values simultaneously.