creating mxn 2D array in c++ without using any external library - c++

Question

I am a beginner to C++ syntax. Now, I need to create an mxn 2D array in C++ to use it in another project. I have looked at other answers which involve using tools like vector, etc. Many tools are not working on my Visual Studio 15 i.e. for vector I can not define with std::vector without a message like vector is not in std. So, I have wrote the following code:
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int i; int j; int row[5][10] = {};
for (int j = 0; j < 10;)
for (int i = 0; i < 5;)
{
row[i][j] = 500;
int printf(row[i][j]);
i++;
j++;
cout << "Array:" << row[i][j] << endl;
}
return 0;
}
Surely, this is not the correct syntax. So the output is beyond my expectation. I want to create an m*n array with all the elements being the same integer; 500 in this case. That is, if m=3, n=2, I should get
500 500 500
500 500 500

Answer 1

There's a couple things wrong with your current code.
The first for loop is missing curly brackets
You're redefining int i and int j in your for loop. Not a complilation issue but still an issue.
You're using printf incorrectly. printf is used to output strings to the console. The correct line would be printf("%d", row[i][j]);
If you want to use a vector, you have to include it using #include <vector>. You can use a vector very similar to an array, but you don't have to worry about size.

Answer 2

You seem to be learning. So, I did minimal correctios to make it work. I suggest you to make modifications as per your needs.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int row[5][10] = {};
for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
row[i][j] = 500;
cout << row[i][j] << " ";
}
cout << endl;
}
return 0;
}

Answer 3

Care and feeding of std::vector using OP's program as an example.
#include <iostream>
#include <vector> // needed to get the code that makes the vector work
int main()
{
int m, n; // declare m and n to hold the dimensions of the vector
if (std::cin >> m >> n) // get m and n from user
{ // m and n are good we can continue. Well sort of good. The user could
// type insane numbers that will explode the vector, but at least they
// are numbers.
// Always test ALL user input before you use it. Users are malicious
// and incompetent <expletive delteted>s, so never trust them.
// That said, input validation is a long topic and out of scope for this
// answer, so I'm going to let trapping bad numbers pass in the interests
// of keeping it simple
// declare row as a vector of vectors
std::vector<std::vector<int>> row(m, std::vector<int> (n, 500));
// breaking this down:
// std::vector<std::vector<int>> row
// row is a vector of vectors of ints
// row(m, std::vector<int> (n, 500));
// row's outer vector is m std::vector<int>s constructed with
// n ints all set to 500
for (int j = 0; j < n; j++) // note: j++ has been moved here. This is
// exactly what the third part of a for
// statement is for. Less surprises for
// everyone this way
// note to purists. I'm ignoring the possible advantages of ++j because
// explaining them would muddy the answer.
// Another note: This will output the transverse of row because of the
// ordering of i and j;
{
for (int i = 0; i < m; i++) // ditto I++ here
{
// there is no need to assign anything here. The vector did
// it for us
std::cout << " " << row[i][j]; // moved the line ending so that
// the line isn't ended with
// every column
}
std::cout << '\n'; // end the line on the end of a row
// Note: I also changed the type of line ending. endl ends the line
// AND writes the contents of the output stream to whatever media
// the stream represents (in this case the console) rather than
// buffering the stream and writing at a more opportune time. Too
// much endl can be a performance killer, so use it sparingly and
// almost certainly not in a loop
}
std::cout << std::endl; // ending the line again to demonstrate a better
// placement of endl. The stream is only forced
// to flush once, right at the end of the
// program
// even this may be redundant as the stream will
// flush when the program exits, assuming the
// program does not crash on exit.
}
else
{ // let the use know the input was not accepted. Prompt feedback is good
// otherwise the user may assume everything worked, or in the case of a
// long program, assume that it crashed or is misbehaving and terminate
// the program.
std::cout << "Bad input. Program exiting" << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}
One performance note a vector of vectors does not provide one long block of memory. It provides M+1 blocks of memory that may be anywhere in storage. Normally when a modern CPU reads a value from memory, it also reads values around it off the assumption that if you want the item at location X, you'll probably want the value at location X+1 shortly after. This allows the CPU to load up, "cache", many values at once. This doesn't work if you have to jump around through memory. This means the CPU may find itself spending more time retrieving parts of a vector of vectors than it does processing a vector of vectors. The typical solution is to fake a 2D data structure with a 1D structure and perform the 2D to 1D mapping yourself.
So:
std::vector<int> row(m*n, 500);
Much nicer looking, yes? Access looks a bit uglier, though
std::cout << " " << row[i * n + j];
Fun thing is, the work done behind the scenes converting row[j][i] to a memory address is almost identical to row[j*n+i] so even though you show more work, it doesn't take any longer. Add to this the benefits you get from the CPU successfully predicting and reading ahead and your program is often vastly faster.