Multidimensional Arrays in Java

You don't have to stop with two dimensional arrays. Java lets you have arrays of three, four or more dimensions. However chances are pretty good that if you need more than three dimensions in an array, you're probably using the wrong data structure. Even three dimensional arrays are exceptionally rare outside of scientific and engineering applications.

The syntax for three dimensional arrays is a direct extension of that for two-dimensional arrays. Here's a program that declares, allocates and initializes a three-dimensional array:

class Fill3DArray {
  public static void main (String args[]) {
    int[][][] M;
    M = new int[4][5][3];
    for (int row=0; row < 4; row++) {
      for (int col=0; col < 5; col++) {
        for (int ver=0; ver < 3; ver++) {
          M[row][col][ver] = row+col+ver;
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Posted in: J2SE, Java