I am looking for fastest way to extend an array.
No matter if only for length + 1 or length + x it has to be the most fastest way.
Here is an example:
var arr = new int [200];
for(int = 0; i < 200; i++)
arr[i] = i;
And now I want to extend arr for 5 items beginning at index position 20.
var arr2 = new int [] { 999, 999, 999, 999, 999 }
How do I place arr2 inside arr by using most fast way in terms of performance?
The result shall look like this
0,1,2,3,4....20, 999, 999, 999, 999, 999, 21, 22, 23, 24....199
Create a new array which is the size you want, then use the static Array.Copy method to copy the original arrays into the new one.
You can't "extend" an array, you can only create a bigger one and copy the original into it.
Also, consider using List<int> or LinkedList<> instead of an array, unless you require extremely fine-grained control over what is in memory.
It is far easier to use List. But if you have to use arrays, you have to create new array of size 205 and copy values from both source arrays, since array size is constant.
Your best bet is to use something like List<int> rather than an array. But if you must use an array:
int[] arr1 = new int[200];
// initialize array
int[] arr2 = new int[]{999, 999, 999, 999, 999};
int targetPos = 20;
// resizes the array, copying the items
Array.Resize(ref arr1, arr1.Length + arr2.Length);
// move the tail of the array down
Buffer.BlockCopy(arr1, 4*targetPos, arr1, 4*(targetPos+arr2.Length), 4*(arr1.Length - targetPos));
// copy arr2 to the proper position
Buffer.BlockCopy(arr2, 0, 4*arr1.targetPos, 4*arr2.Length);
It might be faster to create a new array and copy the items, like this.
int[] newArray = new int[arr1.Length + arr2.Length];
// copy first part of original array
Buffer.BlockCopy(arr1, 0, newArray, 0, 4*targetPos);
// copy second array
Buffer.BlockCopy(arr2, 0, newArray, 4*targetPos, 4*arr2.Length);
// copy remainder of original array
Buffer.blockCopy(arr1, 4*targetPos, newArray, 4*(targetPos + arr2.Length), 4*(arr1.Length - targetPos));
// and replace the original array
arr1 = newArray;
Which version is faster will depend on where targetPos is. The second version will be faster when targetPos is small. When targetPos is small, the first version has to copy a lot of data twice. The second version never copies more than it has to.
BlockCopy is kind of a pain to work with because it requires byte offsets, which is the reason for all the multiplications by four in the code. You might be better off using Array.Copy in the second version above. That will prevent you having to multiply everything by 4 (and forgetting sometimes).
If you know how long the array will be dimension it to that length,
var ints = new int[someFixedLength];
If you have a vauge idea of the length, use a generic list.
var ints = new List<int>(someVagueLength);
both types implement IList but, the List type handles the redimensioning of the internal array is generically the "most fast" way.
Note: the initial .Count of the List will be 0 but, the internal array will be dimensioned to size you pass to to the constructor.
If you need to copy data between arrays, the quickest way is Buffer.BlockCopy, so from your example
Buffer.BlockCopy(arr2, 0, arr, sizeof(int) * 20, sizeof(int) * 5);
copies all 5 ints from arr2 into indecies 20, 21 ... 24 of arr.
there is no faster way to do this with c# (currently).
An answer showing timing benchmarks is given here: Best way to combine two or more byte arrays in C# . If you consider the "array you insert into " as arrays 1 and 3, and the "array to be inserted" as array 2, then the "concatenate three arrays" example applies directly.
Note the point at the end of the accepted answer: the method that is faster at creating yields an array that is slower to access (which is why I asked if you cared about speed to create, or access speed).
using System.Linq you can do the following to extend an array by adding one new object to it...
int[] intA = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
int intB = 4;
intA = intA.Union(new int[] { intB }).ToArray();
...or you can extend an array by adding another array of items to it...
int[] intA = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
int[] intB = new int[] { 4, 5, 6 };
intA = intA.Union(intB).ToArray();
...or if you don't care about duplicates...
int[] intA = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
int[] intB = new int[] { 4, 5, 6 };
intA = intA.Concat(intB).ToArray();
Related
Is it possible to have an array which points to other arrays in C#?
double[] arr1 = new double[2]{1,2};
double[] arr2 = new double[2]{3,4};
double[] mergedArr = arr1 + arr2; //of course not working like that, but how to do it right?
So when I change a value in arr1 the value in the mergedArray automatically changes?
You could do something like this using Span<T> or Memory<T>
var arr = new double[]{1, 2, 3, 4};
var span1= arr.AsSpan(0, 2);
var span2= arr.AsSpan(2, 2);
span2[0] = 5;
// arr is now {1, 2, 5, 4}
Span<T> work kind of like a smart pointer that lets you refer to memory inside an array. But you have to start with the actual array, and create your spans from this, you cannot "merge" arrays, since they are different objects and will be placed in non-continous memory.
Note that Spans is very lightweight and cheap, but has some restrictions on how it can be used, Memory<T> is slightly less lightweight but removes some of the restrictions, I recommend reading the documentation to avoid any surprises.
Points to other arrays -> this is not possible I think. Not sure. You can copy arrays to new array.
double[] arr1 = new double[2]{1,2};
double[] arr2 = new double[2]{3,4};
double[] arr3 = new double[arr1.Length +arr2.Length];
arr1.CopyTo(arr3, 0);
arr2.CopyTo(arr3 , arr1.Length);
You should use IEnumerable, then you can use LINQ's Concat
IEnumerable<double> mergedArr = arr1.Concat(arr2);
This does not create a new object unless you call ToArray or ToList on it
I think you are asking for a jagged array
double[] arr1 = new double[] {1, 2};
double[] arr2 = new double[] {3, 4};
double[][] jaggedArr = new double[][] { arr1, arr2};
which can be accessed via jaggedArr[0][1] => first array (0 index) and second element (1 index).
This creates an array of arrays { {1 ,2}, {3, 4} }
You can manually fill in the array of arrays which gives you more flexibility. For example
double[][] jaggedArr = new double[2][];
jaggedArr[0] = arr1;
jaggedArr[1] = arr2;
Unless you want to create an array from the values of the two arrays concatenated together (one after the other). Then you do
double[] concatArr = arr1.Concat(arr2).ToArray();
This creates a single array with values {1,2,3,4}.
In C# I have three arrays, string[] array1, 2 and 3 and they all have differnt values. I would love to do what I can do in php which is:
$array = array();
$array[] .= 'some value';
Whats the equivalent way of doing this in C#?
In C#, you'd typically use a List<string> instead of string[].
This will allow you to write list.Add("some value") and will "grow" the list dynamically.
Note that it's easy to convert between a list and an array if needed. List<T> has a constructor that takes any IEnumerable<T>, including an array, so you can make a list from an array via:
var list = new List<string>(stringArray);
You can convert a list to an array via:
var array = list.ToArray();
This is only required if you need an array, however (such as working with a third party API). If you know you're going to work with collections that vary in size, it's often better to just always stick to List<T> and not use arrays.
You can create a list and add the array values to it and then convert that list back to array.
int[] array1 = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
int[] array2 = { 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
// Create new List of integers and call AddRange twice
var list = new List<int>();
list.AddRange(array1);
list.AddRange(array2);
// Call ToArray to convert List to array
int[] array3 = list.ToArray();
You could use dinamic lists List<string>. You can do
List<string> TotalList = array1.ToList();
Then you can TotalList.AddRange(array2) and so on....
List<T> or LINQ may be the easiest solutions, but you can also do it the old fashioned way:
// b1 is now 5 bytes
byte[] b1 = Get5BytesFromSomewhere();
// creating a 6-byte array
byte[] temp = new byte[6];
// copying bytes 0-4 from b1 to temp
Array.copy(b1, 0, temp, 0, 5);
// adding a 6th byte
temp[5] = (byte)11;
// reassigning that temp array back to the b1 variable
b1 = temp;
if you simply want to merge your arrays
use linq .Concat
array1 = array1.Concat(array2).Concat(array3).ToArray();
Easy with linq:
int[] array1 = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
int[] array2 = { 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
int[] array3 = { 3, 4 ,5, 9, 10 };
var result = array1
.Concat(array2)
.Concat(array3)
.ToArray();
This should be a pretty basic question, but I've been having a little trouble finding a definite answer.
When you have an array of values and you use the .ToArray() method does it create a deep or shallow copy of the array?
No.
You can easily verify this by writing a small program to test.
Not strictly speaking, ICollection.ToArray() creates a new T[] and assigns each element in the original collection to the new array using Array.CopyTo().
Note:
If T is a value type, values are assigned and not references. This will behave as one would expect of a "Deep" copy.
int[] foo = { 1, 2, 3, 4 };
int[] bar = foo.ToArray();
for (int i = 0; i < foo.Length; i++) foo[i] += 10;
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(',', foo)); // 11, 12, 13, 14
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(',', bar)); // 1, 2, 3, 4
Is it possible, in C#, to convert a multi-dimensional array into a 1D array without having to copy all the elements from one to the other, something like:
int[,] x = new int[3,4];
int[] y = (int[])x;
This would allow the use of x as if it were a 12-element 1D array (and to return it from a function as such), but the compiler does not allow this conversion.
As far as I'm aware, a 2D array (or higher number of dimensions) is laid out in contiguous memory, so it doesn't seem impossible that it could work somehow. Using unsafe and fixed can allow access through a pointer, but this doesn't help with returning the array as 1D.
While I believe I can just use a 1D array throughout in the case I'm working on at present, it would be useful if this function was part of an adapter between something which returns a multidimensional array and something else which requires a 1D one.
You can't, it's not possible in C# to convert array's this way. You maybe could do it by using a external dll ( C/C++ ), but then you need to keep your array at a fixed location.
Speed
Generally i would advice to avoid using a 2D array because theese are slow in C#, better use jagged-array or even better single dimensionals with a little bit of math.
Int32[] myArray = new Int32[xSize * ySize];
// Access
myArray[x + (y * xSize)] = 5;
In C#, arrays cannot be resized dynamically. One approach is to use System.Collections.ArrayList instead of a native array. Another (faster) solution is to re-allocate the array with a different size and to copy the contents of the old array to the new array. The generic function resizeArray (below) can be used to do that.
One example here :
// Reallocates an array with a new size, and copies the contents
// of the old array to the new array.
// Arguments:
// oldArray the old array, to be reallocated.
// newSize the new array size.
// Returns A new array with the same contents.
public static System.Array ResizeArray (System.Array oldArray, int newSize) {
int oldSize = oldArray.Length;
System.Type elementType = oldArray.GetType().GetElementType();
System.Array newArray = System.Array.CreateInstance(elementType,newSize);
int preserveLength = System.Math.Min(oldSize,newSize);
if (preserveLength > 0)
System.Array.Copy (oldArray,newArray,preserveLength);
return newArray; }
You can already iterate over a multidim as if it were a 1 dimensional array:
int[,] data = { { 1, 2, 3 }, { 3, 4, 5 } };
foreach (int i in data)
... // i := 1 .. 5
And you could wrap a 1-dim array in a class and provide an indexer property this[int x1, int x2].
But everything else will require unsafe code or copying. Both will be inefficient.
Riding on the back of Felix K.'s answer and quoting a fellow developer:
You can't convert a square to a line without losing information
try
int[,] x = {{1, 2}, {2, 2}};
int[] y = new int[4];
System.Buffer.BlockCopy(x, 0, y, 0, 4);
You cannot cast, you'll have to copy the elements:
int[] y = (from int i in y select i).ToArray();
I have an array, say:
var arr1 = new [] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 };
Now, when my array-size exceeds 5, I want to resize the current array to 3, and create a new array that contains the upper 3 values, so after this action:
arr1 = new [] { 1, 2, 3 };
newArr = new [] { 4, 5, 6 };
What's the fastest way to do this? I guess I'll have to look into the unmanaged corner, but no clue.
Some more info:
The arrays have to be able to size up without large performance hits
The arrays will only contain Int32's
Purpose of the array is to group the numbers in my source array without having to sort the whole list
In short: I want to split the following input array:
int[] arr = new int[] { 1, 3, 4, 29, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37 };
into
arr1 = 1, 3, 4
arr2 = 29, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37
but because the ideal speed is reached with an array size of 3, arr2 should be split into 2 evenly sized arrays.
Note
I know that an array's implementation in memory is quite naive (well, at least it is in C, where you can manipulate the count of items in the array so the array resizes). Also that there is a memory move function somewhere in the Win32 API. So I guess this would be the fastest:
Change arr1 so it only contains 3 items
Create new array arr2 with size 3
Memmove the bytes that aren't in arr1 anymore into arr2
I'm not sure there's anything better than creating the empty arrays, and then using Array.Copy. I'd at least hope that's optimized internally :)
int[] firstChunk = new int[3];
int[] secondChunk = new int[3];
Array.Copy(arr1, 0, firstChunk, 0, 3);
Array.Copy(arr1, 3, secondChunk, 0, 3);
To be honest, for very small arrays the overhead of the method call may be greater than just explicitly assigning the elements - but I assume that in reality you'll be using slightly bigger ones :)
You might also consider not actually splitting the array, but instead using ArraySegment to have separate "chunks" of the array. Or perhaps use List<T> to start with... it's hard to know without a bit more context.
If speed is really critical, then unmanaged code using pointers may well be the fastest approach - but I would definitely check whether you really need to go there before venturing into unsafe code.
Are you looking for something like this?
static unsafe void DoIt(int* ptr)
{
Console.WriteLine(ptr[0]);
Console.WriteLine(ptr[1]);
Console.WriteLine(ptr[2]);
}
static unsafe void Main()
{
var bytes = new byte[1024];
new Random().NextBytes(bytes);
fixed (byte* p = bytes)
{
for (int i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i += sizeof(int))
{
DoIt((int*)(p + i));
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
This avoids creating new arrays (which cannot be resized, not even with unsafe code!) entirely and just passes a pointer into the array to some method which reads the first three integers.
If your array will always contain 6 items how about:
var newarr1 = new []{oldarr[0], oldarr[1],oldarr[2]};
var newarr2 = new []{oldarr[3], oldarr[4],oldarr[5]};
Reading from memory is fast.
Since arrays are not dynamically resized in C#, this means your first array must have a minimum length of 5 or maximum length of 6, depending on your implementation. Then, you're going to have to dynamically create new statically sized arrays of 3 each time you need to split. Only after each split will your array items be in their natural order unless you make each new array a length of 5 or 6 as well and only add to the most recent. This approach means that each new array will have 2-3 extra pointers as well.
Unless you have a known number of items to go into your array BEFORE compiling the application, you're also going to have to have some form of holder for your dynamically created arrays, meaning you're going to have to have an array of arrays (a jagged array). Since your jagged array is also statically sized, you'll need to be able to dynamically recreate and resize it as each new dynamically created array is instantiated.
I'd say copying the items into the new array is the least of your worries here. You're looking at some pretty big performance hits as well as the array size(s) grow.
UPDATE: So, if this were absolutely required of me...
public class MyArrayClass
{
private int[][] _master = new int[10][];
private int[] _current = new int[3];
private int _currentCount, _masterCount;
public void Add(int number)
{
_current[_currentCount] = number;
_currentCount += 1;
if (_currentCount == _current.Length)
{
Array.Copy(_current,0,_master[_masterCount],0,3);
_currentCount = 0;
_current = new int[3];
_masterCount += 1;
if (_masterCount == _master.Length)
{
int[][] newMaster = new int[_master.Length + 10][];
Array.Copy(_master, 0, newMaster, 0, _master.Length);
_master = newMaster;
}
}
}
public int[][] GetMyArray()
{
return _master;
}
public int[] GetMinorArray(int index)
{
return _master[index];
}
public int GetItem(int MasterIndex, int MinorIndex)
{
return _master[MasterIndex][MinorIndex];
}
}
Note: This probably isn't perfect code, it's a horrible way to implement things, and I would NEVER do this in production code.
The obligatory LINQ solution:
if(arr1.Length > 5)
{
var newArr = arr1.Skip(arr1.Length / 2).ToArray();
arr1 = arr1.Take(arr1.Length / 2).ToArray();
}
LINQ is faster than you might think; this will basically be limited by the Framework's ability to spin through an IEnumerable (which on an array is pretty darn fast). This should execute in roughly linear time, and can accept any initial size of arr1.