C# Jagged Arrays

In C#, jagged array is also known as "array of arrays" because its elements are arrays. The element size of jagged array can be different.

1 - C# Declaration of Jagged array

Let's see an example to declare jagged array that has two elements.

int[][] arr = new int[2][];  

2 - C# Initialization of Jagged array

Let's see an example to initialize jagged array. The size of elements can be different.

arr[0] = new int[4];  
arr[1] = new int[6];  

3 - C# Initialization and filling elements in Jagged array

Let's see an example to initialize and fill elements in jagged array.

arr[0] = new int[4] { 11, 21, 56, 78 };         
arr[1] = new int[6] { 42, 61, 37, 41, 59, 63 };  

Here, size of elements in jagged array is optional. So, you can write above code as given below:

arr[0] = new int[] { 11, 21, 56, 78 };         
arr[1] = new int[] { 42, 61, 37, 41, 59, 63 };

4 - C# Jagged Array Example

Let's see a simple example of jagged array in C# which declares, initializes and traverse jagged arrays.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace HelloWorld
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int[][] arr = new int[2][];// Declare the array  

            arr[0] = new int[] { 11, 21, 56, 78 };// Initialize the array          
            arr[1] = new int[] { 42, 61, 37, 41, 59, 63 };

            // Traverse array elements  
            for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
            {
                for (int j = 0; j < arr[i].Length; j++)
                {
                    Console.Write(arr[i][j] + " ");
                }
                Console.WriteLine();
            }

            Console.WriteLine("Press Enter Key to Exit..");   
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

Output:

5 - C# Initialization of Jagged array upon Declaration

Let's see an example to initialize the jagged array while declaration.

int[][] arr = new int[3][]{  
            new int[] { 11, 21, 56, 78 },  
            new int[] { 2, 5, 6, 7, 98, 5 },  
            new int[] { 2, 5 }  
            }; 

6 - C# Jagged Array Example #2

Let's see a simple example of jagged array which initializes the jagged arrays upon declaration.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace HelloWorld
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int[][] arr = new int[3][]{
            new int[] { 11, 21, 56, 78 },
            new int[] { 2, 5, 6, 7, 98, 5 },
            new int[] { 2, 5 }
           };

            // Traverse array elements  
            for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
            {
                for (int j = 0; j < arr[i].Length; j++)
                {
                    System.Console.Write(arr[i][j] + " ");
                }
                System.Console.WriteLine();
            }

            Console.WriteLine("Press Enter Key to Exit..");   
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

Output: