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javaparallel-arrays

Why use parallel arrays in Java?

Is there any real use case for parallel arrays in Java? It seems too cumbersome to maintain N arrays which are interrelated.

Example:

int  ages[]   = {0,          17,        2,          52,         25};
String names[] = {"None",    "Mike",    "Billy",    "Tom",      "Stan"};
int  parent[] = {0,          3,         1,          0,          3};

I can just create a class Person and store objects in one single array. Will be little more expensive, but much easy to use right?

Solution

  • Parallel arrays are a holdover from languages like Basic (the original one) that had no data structures other than arrays. You should define objects as you suggest, instead.