What is a 3-D array?
Arrays are used to store data and information on various data types. The greatest advantage of arrays is that they allow all data to be accessed in O(1) time complexity.
3-D arrays
3-D arrays are referred to as multi-dimensional arrays. Multi-dimensional arrays are defined as an “array of arrays” that store data in a tabular form.
Imagine this, an array list of data elements makes a 1-D (one-dimensional) array. An array of 1-D arrays makes a 2-D (two-dimensional) array. Similarly, an array of 2-D arrays makes a 3-D ( three-dimensional) array.
A 3-D array can be declared as follows:
int arr[4][5][8]
// declares an 3-D integer array
This array can store a total of 4 X 5 X 8 = 160 elements.
Coding examples
Now we understand what a 3-D array means, it is time for us to understand how we could program it, and for that purpose, we will be using C++ and Java programming languages.
3-D array in C++
Click the "Run" button to execute the below example.
#include <iostream>using namespace std;int main() {int arr[2][3][3] ={{ {0,1,2}, {2,3,4}, {6,7,1} },{ {6,7, 1}, {8,9, 2}, {9,14, 22} }};// accessing a single value i.e 0cout << arr[0][0][0] << endl;// output each element's value by iterating through the arrayfor (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i){for (int j = 0; j < 3; ++j){for (int k = 0; k < 3; ++k){cout << "Element at arr[" << i << "][" << j<< "][" << k << "] = " << arr[i][j][k]<< endl;}}}return 0;}
Lines 5-9: We defined a 3-D array with the name of
arr[]and it would have dimensions ofand we have assigned values to its elements. Line 12: We print the value of the element at the index
[0][0][0]of the arrayarr.Lines 15-27: This nested loop structure iterates through each element of the 3-dimensional array
arrand prints out its indices along with its value.
After understanding 3-D array implementation in C++, it's time to understand that same example in Java.
3-D array in Java
Click the "Run" button to execute the 3D array example below:
class HelloWorld {public static void main( String args[] ) {int[][][] arr = {{ {0,1,2}, {2,3,4}, {6,7,1} },{ {6,7, 1}, {8,9, 2}, {9,14, 22} }};// accessing single value i.e 0System.out.println(arr[0][0][0]);// output each element's value by iterating through the arrayfor (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i){for (int j = 0; j < 3; ++j){for (int k = 0; k < 3; ++k){System.out.println("Element at arr[" + i + "][" + j+ "][" + k + "] = " + arr[i][j][k]);}}}}}
Lines 3-7: We defined a 3-D array with the name of
arr[]and we have assigned values to its elements.Line 9: We print the value of the element at the index
[0][0][0]of the arrayarr.Lines 13-25: This nested loop structure iterates through each element of the 3-dimensional array
arrand prints out its indices along with its value.
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