CHAPTER 7

Arrays and
the
ArrayList
Class

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Topics
• Introduction to Arrays
• Processing Array Contents
• Passing Arrays as Arguments to Methods
• Some Useful Array Algorithms and Operations
(highest, smallest, sum, average)
• Returning Arrays from Methods
• String Arrays
• Arrays of Objects

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Topics (cont’d)
• The Sequential Search Algorithm
• The Selection Sort and the Binary Search
• Two-Dimensional Arrays
• Arrays with Three or More Dimensions
• Command-Line Arguments
• The ArrayList Class

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Introduction to Arrays
• Primitive variables are designed to
hold only one value at a time.
• Arrays allow us to create a collection
of like values that are indexed.
• An array can store any type of data
but only one type of data at a time.
• An array is a list of data elements.

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Creating Arrays
• An array is an object, so it needs an object reference.
(Which means that the array variable only holds an address of
where all the array values are stored out in memory.)
// Declare a reference to an array that will hold integers.
int[] numbers;  this creates the array variable

• The next step creates the array and assigns its

address to the numbers variable
// Create a new array that will hold 6 integers.
numbers = new int[6];  this sets up the area in memory for the array

0 0 0 0 0 0
index 0 index 1 index 2 index 3 index 4 index 5

Array element values are initialized to 0.

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Creating Arrays
• It is possible to declare an array reference
and create it in the same statement.
int[] numbers = new int[6];

• Arrays may be of any type.

float[] temperatures = new float[100];
char[] letters = new char[41];
boolean[] units = new boolean[50];
double[] sizes = new double[1200];

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Creating Arrays
• The array size must be a non-negative
number.
• It may be a literal value, a constant, or
variable.
final int ARRAY_SIZE = 6;
int[] numbers = new int[ARRAY_SIZE];

• Once created, an array size is fixed and

cannot be changed.

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Accessing the Elements of
an Array
20 0 0 0 0 0
numbers[0] numbers[1] numbers[2] numbers[3] numbers[4] numbers[5]

• An array is accessed by:

– the reference name
– a subscript that identifies which element in the
array to access.

numbers[0] = 20; //pronounced "numbers sub zero"

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Inputting and Outputting Array
Elements
• Array elements can be treated as any other
variable.
• They are simply accessed by the same name
and a subscript.
– See example: ArrayDemo1.java
• Array subscripts can be accessed using
variables (such as for loop counters).
– See example: ArrayDemo2.java

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Bounds Checking
• Array indexes always start at zero and continue to
(array length - 1).
int values = new int[10];
• This array would have indexes 0 through 9.
• Thus values[10] would cause an error; it’s not
part of the array

• In for loops, it is typical to use i, j, and k as

counting variables.
• It might help to think of i as representing the word
index.

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Off-by-One Errors
• It is very easy to be off-by-one when accessing
arrays.
// This code has an off-by-one error.
int[] numbers = new int[100];
for (int i = 1; i <= 100; i++)
numbers[i] = 99;
• Here, the equal sign allows the loop to continue on
to index 100, where 99 is the last index in the array.
• This code would throw an
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.

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Array Initialization
• When relatively few items need to be initialized, an
initialization list can be used to initialize the array.
int[]days = {31, 28, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31};

• The numbers in the list are stored in the array in

order:
– days[0] is assigned 31
– days[1] is assigned 28
– days[2] is assigned 31
– days[3] is assigned 30
– And so forth…

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Alternate Array Declaration
• Previously we showed arrays being declared:
int[] numbers;
– However, the brackets can also go here:
int numbers[];
– These are equivalent but the first style is typical.
• Multiple arrays can be declared on the same line.
int[] numbers, codes, scores;
• With the alternate notation each variable must have
brackets.
int numbers[], codes[], scores;
– The scores variable in this instance is simply an int
variable.
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Processing Array Contents
• Processing data in an array is the same as any other
variable.
grossPay = hours[3] * payRate;

• Pre and post increment works the same:

int[] score = {7, 8, 9, 10, 11};
++score[2]; // Pre-increment operation
score[4]++; // Post-increment operation

• See example: PayArray.java

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Processing Array Contents
• Array elements can be used in
relational operations:
if(cost[20] < cost[0])
{
// statements
}

• They can be used as loop conditions:

while(value[count] != 0)
{
// statements
}

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Array Length
• Arrays are objects and provide a public field named
length that is a constant that can be tested.
double[] temperatures = new double[25];
– The length of this array is 25.

• The length of an array can be obtained via its

length constant.
int size = temperatures.length;
– The variable size will contain 25.

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The Enhanced for Loop
• Simplified array processing (read only)
• Always goes through all elements
• General:
for(datatype elementVariable : array)
statement;
• Example:
int[] numbers = {3, 6, 9};
For(int val : numbers)
{
System.out.println("The next value is " +
val);
}

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Array Size
• The length constant can be used in a
loop to provide automatic bounding.
Index subscripts start at 0 and end at one less than the
array length.

for(int i = 0; i < temperatures.length; i++)

{
System.out.println("Temperature " + i ": "
+ temperatures[i]);
}

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Array Size
• You can let the user specify the size of an array:
int numTests;
int[] tests;
Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("How many tests " +
"do you have? ");
numTests = keyboard.nextInt();
tests = new int[numTests];
for (int i = 0; i < numTests; i++)
{
cin >> tests[i];
}

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Reassigning Array
References
• An array reference can be assigned to another array
of the same type.
// Create an array referenced by the numbers variable.
int[] numbers = new int[10];

// Reassign numbers to a new array.

numbers = new int[5];

• If the first (10 element) array no longer has a

reference to it, it will be garbage collected.

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Reassigning Array
References

int[] numbers = new int[10];

The numbers variable
holds the address of an Address
int array.

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Reassigning Array
References

The old 10 element array gets

The numbers variable marked for
holds the address of an Address
garbage collection
int array.
numbers = new int[5];

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Copying Arrays
• This is not the way to copy an array.
int[] array1 = { 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 };
int[] array2 = array1; // This does not copy array1.

2 4 6 8 10

array1 holds an
Address
address to the array
Example:
array2 holds an
SameArray.java
Address
address to the array

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Copying Arrays
• You cannot copy an array by merely assigning
one reference variable to another.

• You need to copy the individual elements of one

array to another.
int[] firstArray = {5, 10, 15, 20, 25 };
int[] secondArray = new int[5];
for (int i = 0; i < firstArray.length; i++)
secondArray[i] = firstArray[i];
• This code copies each element of firstArray to
each corresponding element of secondArray.

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Passing Array Elements to a
Method
• When a single element of an array is passed
to a method it is handled like any other
variable.
• See example: PassElements.java

• More often you will want to write methods to

process array data by passing the entire
array, not just one element at a time.

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Passing Arrays as Arguments
• Arrays are objects.
• Their references can be passed to methods like any
other object reference variable.

showArray(numbers); 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Address Example: PassArray.java

public static void showArray(int[] array)

{
for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++)
System.out.print(array[i] + " ");
}
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Comparing Arrays
• The == operator determines only whether array
references point to the same array object.
• To compare the contents of an array:
int[] firstArray = { 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 };
int[] secondArray = { 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 };
boolean arraysEqual = true;
int i = 0;
if (firstArray.length != secondArray.length)
arraysEqual = false;
while (arraysEqual && i < firstArray.length)
{
if (firstArray[i] != secondArray[i])
arraysEqual = false;
i++;
}
if (arraysEqual)
System.out.println("The arrays are equal.");
else
System.out.println("The arrays are not equal.");
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Useful Array Operations
• Finding the Highest Value:
int [] numbers = new int[50];
int highest = numbers[0];
for (int i = 1; i < numbers.length; i++)
{
if (numbers[i] > highest)
highest = numbers[i];
}
• Finding the Lowest Value:
int lowest = numbers[0];
for (int i = 1; i < numbers.length; i++)
{
if (numbers[i] < lowest)
lowest = numbers[i];
}

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Useful Array Operations
• Summing Array Elements:
int total = 0; // Initialize accumulator
for (int i = 0; i < units.length; i++)
total += units[i];
• Averaging Array Elements:
double total = 0; // Initialize accumulator
double average; // Will hold the average
for (int i = 0; i < scores.length; i++)
total += scores[i];
average = total / scores.length;
• Example: SalesData.java, Sales.java

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Partially Filled Arrays
• Typically, if the amount of data that an array must hold is
unknown:
Size the array to the largest expected number of elements.
Use a counting variable to keep track of how much valid data is in the array.
…
int[] array = new int[100];
int count = 0;
…
System.out.print("Enter a number or -1 to quit: ");
number = keyboard.nextInt();
while (number != -1 && count <= 99)
{
array[count] = number;
count++;
System.out.print("Enter a number or -1 to quit: ");
number = keyboard.nextInt();
}
…

input, number and keyboard were previously declared and keyboard

references a Scanner object.

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Arrays and Files
• Saving the contents of an array to a file:
int[] numbers = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};

PrintWriter outputFile = new PrintWriter

("Values.txt");

for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++)

outputFile.println(numbers[i]);

outputFile.close();

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Arrays and Files
• Reading the contents of a file into an array:
final int SIZE = 5; // Assuming we know the size.
int[] numbers = new int[SIZE];
int i = 0;
File file = new File ("Values.txt");
Scanner inputFile = new Scanner(file);
while (inputFile.hasNext() && i < numbers.length)
{
numbers[i] = inputFile.nextInt();
i++;
}
inputFile.close();

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Returning an Array Reference
• A method can return a reference to an array.
• The return type of the method must be declared as
an array of the right type.
public static double[] getArray()
{
double[] array = { 1.2, 2.3, 4.5, 6.7, 8.9 };
return array;
}

• The getArray method is a public static method that

returns an array of doubles.
• See example: ReturnArray.java

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String Arrays
• Arrays are not limited to primitive data.
• An array of String objects can be created:
String[] names = { "Bill", "Susan", "Steven", "Jean" };

The names variable holds A String array is an array

the address to the array. of references to String objects.
Address

names[0] address “Bill” Example:

names[1] address “Susan” MonthDays.java
names[2] address “Steven”
names[3] address “Jean”

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String Arrays
• If an initialization list is not provided, the new
keyword must be used to create the array:
String[] names = new String[4];

The names variable holds

the address to the array.

Address

names[0] null
names[1] null
names[2] null
names[3] null

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String Arrays
• When an array is created in this manner, each
element of the array must be initialized.

names[0] = "Bill";
The names variable holds names[1] = "Susan";
the address to the array. names[2] = "Steven";
names[3] = "Jean";
Address

names[0] null “Bill”

names[1] null “Susan”
names[2] null “Steven”
names[3] null “Jean”

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Calling String Methods On Array
Elements
• String objects have several methods, including:
– toUpperCase
– compareTo
– equals
– charAt
• Each element of a String array is a String object.
• Methods can be used by using the array name and
index as before.

System.out.println(names[0].toUpperCase());
char letter = names[3].charAt(0);

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The length Field & The length
Method
• Arrays have a final field named length.
• String objects have a method named length().
• To display the length of each string held in a String
array:
for (int i = 0; i < names.length; i++)
System.out.println(names[i].length());
• An array’s length is a field
– You do not write a set of parentheses after its name.
• A String’s length is a method
– You write the parentheses after the name of the String
class’s length method.

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Arrays of Objects
• Since strings are objects, we know that arrays can
contain objects.
InventoryItem[] inventory = new InventoryItem[5];

The inventory variable holds the address

of an InventoryItem array.

Address

inventory[0] null
inventory[1] null
inventory[2] null
inventory[3] null
inventory[4] null
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Arrays of Objects
• Each element needs to be initialized.
for (int i = 0; i < inventory.length; i++)
inventory[i] = new InventoryItem();
• Example: ObjectArray.java
description: “”
The inventory variable holds the address units: 0
of an InventoryItem array.
description: “”
Address units: 0

description: “”
inventory[0] Address units: 0
inventory[1] Address description: “”
inventory[2] Address units: 0

inventory[3] Address description: “”

units: 0
inventory[4] Address
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The Sequential Search
Algorithm
• A search algorithm is a method of locating a
specific item in a larger collection of data.
• The sequential search algorithm uses a loop
to:
– sequentially step through an array,
– compare each element with the search value, and
– stop when
• the value is found or
• the end of the array is encountered.
• See example: SearchArray.java

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Selection Sort
• In a selection sort:
• The selection sort starts with the whole array, finds
the smallest item, and swaps that item with array[0]
(the first item)
• Then it looks at the rest of the array, starting with
array[1]. It finds the smallest item in the remaining
array and swaps it with array[1].
• Then it does the same thing with the remaining array
that starts with array[2].
• It keeps on going until it’s out of array to process.

– See example: SelectionSortDemo.java

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Binary Search
• A binary search:
– requires an array sorted in ascending order.
– starts with the element in the middle of the array.
– If that element is the desired value, the search is
over.
– Otherwise, the value in the middle element is
either greater or less than the desired value
– If it is greater than the desired value, search in the
first half of the array.
– Otherwise, search the last half of the array.
– Repeat as needed while adjusting start and end
points of the search.
• See example: BinarySearchDemo.java

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Two-Dimensional Arrays
• A two-dimensional array is an array of arrays.
• It can be thought of as having rows and
columns.

column 0 column 1 column 2 column 3

row 0

row 1

row 2

row 3

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Two-Dimensional Arrays
• Declaring a two-dimensional array requires two
sets of brackets and two size declarators
– The first one is for the number of rows
– The second one is for the number of columns.
double[][] scores = new double[3][4];

Two-dimensional array Rows Columns

• The two sets of brackets in the data type
indicate that the scores variable will reference a
two-dimensional array.
• Notice that each size declarator is enclosed in
its own set of brackets.
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Accessing Two-Dimensional
Array Elements
• When processing the data in a two-
dimensional array, each element has
two subscripts:
– one for its row
– one for its column

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Accessing Two-Dimensional
Array Elements

The scores variable

holds the address of a
2D array of doubles.
column 0 column 1 column 2 column 3
Address
row 0 scores[0][0] scores[0][1] scores[0][2] scores[0][3]

row 1 scores[1][0] scores[1][1] scores[1][2] scores[1][3]

row 2 scores[2][0] scores[2][1] scores[2][2] scores[2][3]

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Accessing Two-Dimensional
Array Elements
Accessing one of the elements in a two-
dimensional array requires the use of both
subscripts.
The scores variable
holds the address of a
scores[2][1] = 95;
2D array of doubles.
column 0 column 1 column 2 column 3
Address
row 0 0 0 0 0
row 1 0 0 0 0
row 2 0 95 0 0

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Accessing Two-Dimensional
Array Elements
• Programs that process two-dimensional
arrays can do so with nested loops.
• To fill the scores array: Number of rows, not the
largest subscript
for (int row = 0; row < 3; row++)
Number of
{ columns, not the
for (int col = 0; col < 4; col++) largest subscript
{
System.out.print("Enter a score: ");
scores[row][col] = keyboard.nextDouble();
}
} keyboard references a
Scanner object

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Accessing Two-Dimensional
Array Elements
• To print out the scores array:
for (int row = 0; row < 3; row++)
{
for (int col = 0; col < 4; col++)
{
System.out.println(scores[row][col]);
}
}
• See example: CorpSales.java

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Initializing a Two-Dimensional
Array
• Initializing a two-dimensional array requires
enclosing each row’s initialization list in its own set
of braces.
int[][] numbers = { {1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}, {7, 8, 9} };

• Java automatically creates the array and fills its

elements with the initialization values.
– row 0 {1, 2, 3}
– row 1 {4, 5, 6}
– row 2 {7, 8, 9}
• Declares an array with three rows and three
columns.

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Initializing a Two-Dimensional
Array
The numbers variable int[][] numbers = {{1, 2, 3},
holds the address of a {4, 5, 6},
2D array of int values. {7, 8, 9}};

column 0 column 1 column 2

Address
row 0 1 2 3
row 1 4 5 6
row 2 7 8 9

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The length Field
• Two-dimensional arrays are arrays of
one-dimensional arrays.
• The length field of the array gives the
number of rows in the array.
• Each row has a length constant tells
how many columns is in that row.
• Each row can have a different number
of columns.

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The length Field
• To access the length fields of the array:
int[][] numbers = { { 1, 2, 3, 4 },
{ 5, 6, 7 },
{ 9, 10, 11, 12 } };

for (int row = 0; row < numbers.length; row++)

{
for (int col = 0; col < numbers[row].length; col++)
System.out.println(numbers[row][col]);
}

Number of rows Number of columns in this row.

• See example: Lengths.java
The array can have variable length rows.

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Summing The Elements of a
Two-Dimensional Array
int[][] numbers = { { 1, 2, 3, 4 },
{5, 6, 7, 8},
{9, 10, 11, 12} };
int total;
total = 0;
for (int row = 0; row < numbers.length; row++)
{
for (int col = 0; col < numbers[row].length; col++)
total += numbers[row][col];
}

System.out.println("The total is " + total);

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Summing The Rows of a Two-
Dimensional Array
int[][] numbers = {{ 1, 2, 3, 4},
{5, 6, 7, 8},
{9, 10, 11, 12}};
int total;

for (int row = 0; row < numbers.length; row++)

{
total = 0;
for (int col = 0; col < numbers[row].length; col++)
total += numbers[row][col];
System.out.println("Total of row "
+ row + " is " + total);
}

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Summing The Columns of a
Two-Dimensional Array
int[][] numbers = {{1, 2, 3, 4},
{5, 6, 7, 8},
{9, 10, 11, 12}};
int total;

for (int col = 0; col < numbers[0].length;col++)

{
total = 0;
for (int row = 0; row < numbers.length; row++)
total += numbers[row][col];
System.out.println("Total of column "
+ col + " is " + total);
}

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Passing and Returning Two-
Dimensional Array References
• There is no difference between passing
a single or two-dimensional array as an
argument to a method.
• The method must accept a two-
dimensional array as a parameter.
• See example: Pass2Darray.java

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Ragged Arrays
• When the rows of a two-dimensional array
are of different lengths, the array is known
as a ragged array.
• You can create a ragged array by creating
a two-dimensional array with a specific
number of rows, but no columns.
int [][] ragged = new int [4][];
• Then create the individual rows.
ragged[0] = new int [3];
ragged[1] = new int [4];
ragged[2] = new int [5];
ragged[3] = new int [6];

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More Than Two Dimensions
• Java does not limit the number of dimensions that an
array may be.
• More than three dimensions is hard to visualize, but
can be useful in some programming problems.

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The ArrayList Class
• Similar to an array, an ArrayList allows
object storage
• Unlike an array, an ArrayList object:
– Automatically expands when a new item is
added
– Automatically shrinks when items are removed
• Requires:
import java.util.ArrayList;

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Creating an ArrayList
ArrayList<String> nameList = new ArrayList<String>();

• Notice the word String written inside angled

brackets <>
• This specifies that the ArrayList can hold
String objects.
• If we try to store any other type of object in
this ArrayList, an error will occur.

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Using an ArrayList

• To populate the ArrayList, use the add

method:
– nameList.add("James");
– nameList.add("Catherine");

• To get the current size, call the size method

– nameList.size(); // returns 2

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Creating and Using an ArrayList

• To access items in an ArrayList, use the

get method
nameList.get(1);
In this statement 1 is the index of the item to get.

• Example: ArrayListDemo1.java

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Creating and Using an
ArrayList
• You can use the enhanced for loop to
iterate over each item in an ArrayList.
// Create an ArrayList of names.
ArrayList<String> nameList = new ArrayList<String>();
nameList.add("James");
nameList.add("Catherine");
nameList.add("Bill");

// Display the items in the ArrayList.

for (String name : nameList)
System.out.println(name);

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Using an ArrayList
• The ArrayList class's toString method returns a
string representing all items in the ArrayList
System.out.println(nameList);
This statement yields :
[ James, Catherine ]
• The ArrayList class's remove method removes
designated item from the ArrayList
nameList.remove(1);
This statement removes the second item.
• See example: ArrayListDemo3.java

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Using an ArrayList
• The ArrayList class's add method with one
argument adds new items to the end of the
ArrayList
• To insert items at a location of choice, use the add
method with two arguments:
nameList.add(1, "Mary");
This statement inserts the String "Mary" at index 1
• To replace an existing item, use the set method:
nameList.set(1, "Becky");
This statement replaces “Mary” with “Becky”
• See example: ArrayListDemo4.java

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Using an ArrayList
• An ArrayList has a capacity, which is the
number of items it can hold without
increasing its size.
• The default capacity of an ArrayList is 10
items.
• To designate a different capacity, use a
parameterized constructor:
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(100);

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Using an ArrayList
• You can store any type of object in an
ArrayList
ArrayList<InventoryItem> accountList =
new ArrayList<InventoryItem>();

This creates an ArrayList that can hold

InventoryItem objects.

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Using an ArrayList
// Create a listor to hold InventoryItem objects.
ArrayList list = new ArrayList();

// Add three InventoryItem objects to the ArrayList.

list.add(new InventoryItem("Nuts", 100));
list.add(new InventoryItem("Bolts", 150));
list.add(new InventoryItem("Washers", 75));

// Display each item.

for (int index = 0; index < list.size(); index++)
{
InventoryItem item = (InventoryItem)list.get(index);
System.out.println("Item at index " + index +
"\nDescription: " + item.getDescription() +
"\nUnits: " + item.getUnits());
}

See: ArrayListDemo6.java

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Command-Line Arguments
• A Java program can receive arguments from
the operating system command-line.
• The main method has a header that looks
like this:
public static void main(String[] args)
• The main method receives a String array as
a parameter.
• The array that is passed into the args
parameter comes from the operating system
command-line.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Command-Line Arguments
• To run the example:
java CommandLine How does this work?
args[0] is assigned "How"
args[0] is assigned "does"
args[0] is assigned "this"
args[0] is assigned "work?"

• Example: CommandLine.java
• It is not required that the name of main’s
parameter array be args.

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Variable-Length Argument
Lists
• Special type parameter – vararg…
– vararg parameters are actually arrays
– Examples: VarArgsDemo1.java, VarargsDemo2.java

public static int sum(int... numbers)

{
int total = 0; // Accumulator
// Add all the values in the numbers array.
for (int val : numbers)
total += val;
// Return the total.
return total;
}

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