Section 6.6.4 Arrays and Pointers: Passing Multidimensional Arrays to Functions

Adapted from: “Beej’s Guide to C Programming” by Brian (Beej Jorgensen) Hall: Beej’s Guide to C Programming: 6.6.4 Arrays and Pointers: Passing Multidimensional Arrays to Functions

Brian (Beej Jorgensen) Hall Website

Program for Demonstrating Passing Multidimensional Arrays to Functions¶

Explanation of the Above Code¶

This C program demonstrates how to pass a 2D array to a function and print its elements. Below is a detailed explanation of each part of the code:

1. #include <stdio.h>¶

• This line includes the Standard Input/Output Library in the program.

• It allows the use of functions like printf for printing output to the console.

2. Function Definition: print_2D_array¶

void print_2D_array(int a[2][3])
{
    for (int row = 0; row < 2; row++) {
        for (int col = 0; col < 3; col++)
            printf("%d ", a[row][col]);
        printf("\n");
    }
}

• Purpose: This function takes a 2D array as input and prints its elements row by row.

Key Points:¶

• Parameter: int a[2][3]

  • The function accepts a 2D array with 2 rows and 3 columns.

  • The dimensions [2][3] must be explicitly specified in the function signature to correctly access the array elements.

• Logic:

  • The function uses nested for loops to iterate through the 2D array:

    • The outer loop iterates over the rows (row index).

    • The inner loop iterates over the columns (col index).

  • Each element of the array is accessed using a[row][col] and printed using printf("%d ", a[row][col]);.

  • After printing all elements in a row, a newline (\n) is printed to move to the next row.

Example Execution:¶

• For the array:

  1 2 3
  4 5 6

  • The outer loop runs twice (for 2 rows).

  • The inner loop runs three times for each row (for 3 columns).

  • The elements are printed in the following order:

    1 2 3
    4 5 6

3. main Function¶

int main(void)
{
    int x[2][3] = {
        {1, 2, 3},
        {4, 5, 6}
    };

    print_2D_array(x);
}

• Purpose: This is the entry point of the program. It initializes a 2D array and calls the print_2D_array function to print its elements.

Key Points:¶

• Array Declaration and Initialization:

  int x[2][3] = {
      {1, 2, 3},
      {4, 5, 6}
  };

  • A 2D array x with 2 rows and 3 columns is declared and initialized.

  • The array is stored in memory as:

    Row 0: 1 2 3
    Row 1: 4 5 6

• Function Call:

  print_2D_array(x);

  • The array x is passed to the print_2D_array function.

  • In C, when an array is passed to a function, it is passed by reference (as a pointer to the first element). The function can access and process the array elements directly.

4. Program Output¶

When the program is executed, the output is:

1 2 3
4 5 6

• The print_2D_array function prints each row of the array on a new line.

5. Key Concepts Demonstrated¶

a. Passing Multidimensional Arrays to Functions¶

• In C, when a 2D array is passed to a function, the function receives a pointer to the first element of the array.

• The dimensions of the array (e.g., [2][3]) must be specified in the function signature to correctly access the elements.

b. Nested Loops for 2D Arrays¶

• The outer loop iterates over rows, and the inner loop iterates over columns to access each element of the 2D array.

c. Memory Layout of 2D Arrays¶

• A 2D array in C is stored in row-major order in memory:

  • All elements of the first row are stored consecutively, followed by all elements of the second row, and so on.

6. How the Code Works Step-by-Step¶

1. The main function initializes a 2D array x with the values:

   1 2 3
   4 5 6

2. The print_2D_array function is called with x as an argument.

3. Inside the print_2D_array function:

   • The outer loop iterates over the rows (row = 0 and row = 1).

   • For each row, the inner loop iterates over the columns (col = 0, col = 1, and col = 2).

   • Each element is printed using printf.

   • After printing all elements in a row, a newline is printed to move to the next row.

4. The program outputs the array elements in a formatted way.

7. Why the Dimensions [2][3] Are Required¶

• The compiler needs to know the number of columns in the array (e.g., 3 in this case) to correctly calculate the memory offset for each element.

• Without specifying the number of columns, the compiler cannot determine where the next row starts.

This program is a simple and effective demonstration of how to pass and process multidimensional arrays in C.

Compile and Run Code¶

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