Ordered collections accessed by index.
Arrays store elements contiguously with O(1) index access; dynamic lists grow automatically. Operations: append, insert, delete, slice, sort, search. Multi-dimensional arrays represent matrices and images. Out-of-range indexing is a classic bug.
a=[3,1,2]; a.sort() yields [1,2,3].
Arrays and lists store collections of values accessed by position, which is the basis of most data handling.
Ordered collections accessed by index.
Arrays and lists store collections of values accessed by position, which is the basis of most data handling.
An array usually has a fixed size and fast indexing. A list often grows dynamically, and the implementation determines how efficient insertion is.
Using an index that is one too large or small, which is common at the start or end of a sequence.
Typical applications include storing a day of temperature readings for plotting, keeping a queue of tasks for a worker and holding the coordinates of points for a drawing.
Study "Functions" first (topic 7 of 104 in Software & Computing). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
Zero-based indexing. Insertion in the middle is O(n). Cache-friendly.
a=[3,1,2]; a.sort() yields [1,2,3].
The next topic is "Strings", which builds directly on this one.
It is classed as Beginner in Software & Computing (topic 8 of 104). It is an entry-level topic. It relies only on basic school mathematics and the ideas introduced earlier in this discipline.
Want to practise? Open the interactive course for quick checks, quizzes, simulations and progress tracking.