C# Multidimensional Arrays

Multidimensional Arrays

In the previous chapter, you learned about arrays, which is also known as single dimension arrays. These are great, and something you will use a lot while programming in C#. However, if you want to store data as a tabular form, like a table with rows and columns, you need to get familiar with multidimensional arrays.

A multidimensional array is basically an array of arrays.

Arrays can have any number of dimensions. The most common are two-dimensional arrays (2D).

Two-Dimensional Arrays

To create a 2D array, add each array within its own set of curly braces, and insert a comma (,) inside the square brackets:

int[,] numbers = { {1, 4, 2}, {3, 6, 8} };

numbers is now an array with two arrays as its elements. The first array element contains three elements: 1, 4 and 2, while the second array element contains 3, 6 and 8. To visualize it, think of the array as a table with rows and columns:

Access Elements of a 2D Array

To access an element of a two-dimensional array, you must specify two indexes: one for the array, and one for the element inside that array. Or better yet, with the table visualization in mind; one for the row and one for the column (see example below).

This statement accesses the value of the element in the first row (0) and third column (2) of the numbers array:

int[,] numbers = { {1, 4, 2}, {3, 6, 8} };
Console.WriteLine(numbers[0, 2]);  // Outputs 2

Change Elements of a 2D Array

You can also change the value of an element.

The following example will change the value of the element in the first row (0) and first column (0):

int[,] numbers = { {1, 4, 2}, {3, 6, 8} };
numbers[0, 0] = 5;  // Change value to 5
Console.WriteLine(numbers[0, 0]); // Outputs 5 instead of 1

Loop Through a 2D Array

You can easily loop through the elements of a two-dimensional array with a foreach loop:

int[,] numbers = { {1, 4, 2}, {3, 6, 8} };
foreach (int i in numbers)
{
  Console.WriteLine(i);
} 

You can also use a for loop. For multidimensional arrays, you need one loop for each of the array's dimensions.

Also note that we have to use GetLength() instead of Length to specify how many times the loop should run:

int[,] numbers = { {1, 4, 2}, {3, 6, 8} };
for (int i = 0; i < numbers.GetLength(0); i++)
{
  for (int j = 0; j < numbers.GetLength(1); j++)
  {
    Console.WriteLine(numbers[i, j]);
  }
}