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Arrays

An array is a structure that holds multiple values of the same type. The length of an array is established when the array is created. After creation, an array is a fixed-length structure.

An array element is one of the values within an array and is accessed by its position within the array.

Arrays have certain performance characteristics, such as random access in constant time and linear lookup. Other data structures with other characteristics are provided in the Collections Framework, for example HashMap with near-constant time for lookup. The Collections Framework also provides an array-like data structure which supports dynamic resizing, ArrayList. Refer to Collections for more information. This section covers the following array-related topics:

• Creating and Using Arrays
• Arrays of Objects
• Arrays of Arrays
• Copying Arrays
• Summary of Arrays
• Questions and Exercises: Arrays

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