1. Growing Arrays in C
Varoon Wadhwa

2. Arrays An array is basically a variable that contains a list
Arrays are one of the simplest data structures in C
They have many uses and a broad range of tools associated with them

3. What are Growing Arrays?
Growing Arrays are arrays that are constantly having new sorted values added to them
They are used in situations where we need to keep track of a variable
Often overshadowed by hash tables due to the amount of resources needed for large arrays

4. Comparisons to C++/Java
In C++ or Java, Growing Arrays would be replaced by classes from standard libraries
In C, these Growing Arrays are constructed using a struct
struct {
char cname[8];
char sname[16];
char exam[16];
char grade;
} record;

5. Struct A struct is used to declare a new data type
This basically means grouping variables together
Similar to enum in C++

6. Why Grow Arrays? Growing arrays is usually a resource hungry operation
Used when elements added (n) is relatively small
Very convenient data structure
Fixed size data sets, arrays ideal

7. Why not use Growing Arrays?
Changing set of values in arrays can be expensive
Number of elements unpredictable
Number of elements potentially large n

8. Benefits of Growing Arrays
Arrays are simplest way to group data
Most languages have efficient and convenient tools for arrays
Arrays work well with sorting algorithms
Provide easy access to any item

9. Drawbacks of Growing Arrays
Cannot handle large amounts of data change
Requires resorting of entire array upon deletion of elements
Elements can sometimes be overwritten by fast “squeezing” algorithms
Must decide on correctness or speed

10. Deleting an element Deleting a element in an array is tricky
Deleting the element results in a gap in the array
Easiest solution is to swap last element into the gap
More complicated if order matters

11. Questions???