In this C++ tutorial, you shall learn about array of arrays, how to create an array of arrays of specific size, and how to traverse the inner arrays using For loop, with examples.

C Array of Arrays

C++ Array of Arrays is an array in which each element is an array of elements.

To declare an array of arrays use the following syntax.

datatype array_name[size1][size2]

where

  • datatype is the type of elements stored in the inner arrays.
  • array_name is the name given to this array, using which we reference the array in later part of the program.
  • size1 is the number of inner arrays.
  • size2 is the number of elements in each of the inner array.

Examples

1 An array of integer arrays

In the following example, we create an array of integer arrays. We traverse the array of arrays using For Loop and print them to console.

main.cpp

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    int x[2][3] = { {2, 4, 6}, {10, 20, 30} };
    for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
        for (int k = 0; k < 3; k++) {
            cout << x[i][k] << "\t";
        }
        cout << endl;
    }
}

Output

2	4	6	
10	20	30	
Program ended with exit code: 0

Conclusion

In this C++ Tutorial, we learned how to declare/initialize an Array of Arrays, and how to traverse through the elements of this nested array, with the help of example C++ programs.