In this article, I will discuss multi-dimensional array in C# with an example. A multi-dimensional array in C# is an array that contains more than one rows to store the data.
Here are some facts about multi-dimensional arrays:
  • Multi-dimensional arrays are also known as rectangular arrays in C#
  • Each row in the array has same number of elements (length).
  • A multi-dimensional array can be a 2-d (two-dimensional) array or a 3-D (three-dimensional) array or even more, an n-dimensional array.
Arrays are categorized into the following three categories.
  • Single dimensional
  • Multi-dimentional
  • Jagged
The following code snippet declares a two-dimensional array of four rows and two columns of int type. This array can store int values only.
  1. int[,] int2D = new int[4, 2];
The following code declares and creates an array of three dimensions, 4, 2, and 3 of string type.
  1. string[, ,] str3D = new string[4, 2, 3];
Sample Code
Create a Console application in Visual Studio, and write the below code.
  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections;
  3. using System.Collections.Generic;
  4. namespace ConsoleDemo
  5. {
  6. class Program
  7. {
  8. static void Main(string[] args)
  9. {
  10. //Multi-Dimensional array Example
  11. /* Array with 4 rows and 2 columns*/
  12. int[,] _MultiDimentionArray = new int[4, 2] { { 3, 7 }, { 2, 9 }, { 0, 4 }, { 3, 1 } };
  13. int i, j;
  15. for (i = 0; i < 5; i++)
  16. {
  17. for (j = 0; j < 2; j++)
  18. {
  19. Console.WriteLine("a[{0},{1}] = {2}", i, j, _MultiDimentionArray[i, j]);
  20. }
  21. }
  22. Console.ReadKey();
  23. }
  24. }
  25. }
In this above code, a 4x2 multi-dimensional array is initialized with values in it.
I hope you understood the concept of multi-dimensional arrays in C#.
Here is a detailed tutorial on Working With Arrays In C#.