Can't get C# array working

Question

I'm having problems with arrays in C#

Inside my class when I type in

>>> public static void Main(string[] args) {
    Console.WriteLine (new string[] { "I", "Like", "π" });
}

The console says

System.String[]

Instead of the array I pass in.

What I'm trying to do is fit an array into a method like so:

>>> public static void Main(string[] args) {
    DoSomething ({ "I", "Like", "π" });
}

>>> public static int DoSomething(string[] array) {
    for (int i = 0; i > array.Length; i++) {
        Console.WriteLine (array [i]);
    }
}

I get an error saying

Unexpected symbol '{' on 'DoSomething ({ "I", "Like", "π" });'

How do I fix these errors?

Because you cannot print `string[]` (that's string array) elements directly like that. — Prajwal, Jan 12 '17 at 04:28
And your method does not return an int, make the method void! — Lucian Bumb, Jan 12 '17 at 04:31
string[] is the same thing as System.String[]. "string" is just an alias for "String" — Rabid Penguin, Jan 12 '17 at 04:34
@RabidPenguin Yes, we are aware of that. what made you think we don't know that? — Prajwal, Jan 12 '17 at 04:38

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 12 '17 at 04:33

This is how your program should be.

public static void Main(string[] args) 
{
    DoSomething (new string[] { "I", "Like", "π" });
}

public static void DoSomething(string[] array)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
    {
        Console.WriteLine (array [i]);
    }
}

After looking at your question and comparing it to the above one, These are the errors I've found.

You cannot directly print array elements like that. It should be in a loop, for each element.
You cannot create literal array like that. you will have to specify that is a new array of certain datatype.
Your method is returning int which is not in the code, and also not used anywhere. you are supposed to use void in such circumstances.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 12 '17 at 04:35

You can either use for loop to print each element in an array or use string.join to print in one single statment as shown below. Instead of \n you can use any other delimiter. eg., if you need to print comma seperated, you can use (",",array)

public static void Main(string[] args) {
    DoSomething ({ "I", "Like", "π" });
}

public static void DoSomething(string[] array) {        
        Console.WriteLine (string.Join("\n", array); 
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 12 '17 at 04:29

0

public static void Main(string[] args) {
    DoSomething (new[] { "I", "Like", "π" });
}

public static void DoSomething(string[] array) {
    for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++) {
        Console.WriteLine (array [i]);
    }
}

answered Jan 12 '17 at 04:29

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you missed the return type.Am I correct ? – isuruAb Jan 12 '17 at 04:35

sujith karivelil · Answer 4 · 2017-01-12T04:42:32.400

For your first option I would like to suggest this:

Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", new string[] { "I", "Like", "π" });

Or like this:

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(" ", new string[] { "I", "Like", "π" }));

For the second the You have to call the method like this:

 DoSomething (new[] { "I", "Like", "π" });

And you need to change the loop as well like the follwong:

for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
{
    Console.WriteLine (array [i]);
}

Can't get C# array working

4 Answers4