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In computer programming, a variable-length array (VLA), also called variable-sized or runtime-sized, is an array data structure whose length is determined at runtime, instead of at compile time. [1] In the language C , the VLA is said to have a variably modified data type that depends on a value (see Dependent type ).
In computer science, an array is a data structure consisting of a collection of elements (values or variables), of same memory size, each identified by at least one array index or key. An array is stored such that the position of each element can be computed from its index tuple by a mathematical formula.
However, C and C++ will use a linear indexing formula for multi-dimensional arrays that are declared with compile time constant size, e.g. by int A [10][20] or int A [m][n], instead of the traditional int ** A. [8] The C99 standard introduced Variable Length Array types that let define array types with dimensions computed in run time.
This comparison of programming languages (array) compares the features of array data structures or matrix processing for various computer programming languages. Syntax [ edit ]
Note how the use of A[i][j] with multi-step indexing as in C, as opposed to a neutral notation like A(i,j) as in Fortran, almost inevitably implies row-major order for syntactic reasons, so to speak, because it can be rewritten as (A[i])[j], and the A[i] row part can even be assigned to an intermediate variable that is then indexed in a separate expression.
These functions operate like variables to represent data of multiple types. For example, a function named length may determine the length of a list. Such a length function may be parametric polymorphic by including a type variable in its type signature, since the number of elements in the list is independent of the elements' types.
A dynamic array is not the same thing as a dynamically allocated array or variable-length array, either of which is an array whose size is fixed when the array is allocated, although a dynamic array may use such a fixed-size array as a back end. [1]
In array languages, operations are generalized to apply to both scalars and arrays. Thus, a+b expresses the sum of two scalars if a and b are scalars, or the sum of two arrays if they are arrays. An array language simplifies programming but possibly at a cost known as the abstraction penalty.