change array size

Question

You can use Array.Resize(), documented in MSDN.

But yeah, I agree with Corey, if you need a dynamically sized data structure, we have Lists for that.

Important: Array.Resize() doesn't resize the array (the method name is misleading), it creates a new array and only replaces the reference you passed to the method.

An example:

var array1 = new byte[10];
var array2 = array1;
Array.Resize<byte>(ref array1, 20);

// Now:
// array1.Length is 20
// array2.Length is 10
// Two different arrays.

No, try using a strongly typed List instead.

For example:

Instead of using

int[] myArray = new int[2];
myArray[0] = 1;
myArray[1] = 2;

You could do this:

List<int> myList = new List<int>();
myList.Add(1);
myList.Add(2);

Lists use arrays to store the data so you get the speed benefit of arrays with the convenience of a LinkedList by being able to add and remove items without worrying about having to manually change its size.

This doesn't mean an array's size (in this instance, a List) isn't changed though - hence the emphasis on the word manually.

As soon as your array hits its predefined size, the JIT will allocate a new array on the heap that is twice the size and copy your existing array across.

You can use Array.Resize() in .net 3.5 and higher. This method allocates a new array with the specified size, copies elements from the old array to the new one, and then replaces the old array with the new one. (So you will need the memory available for both arrays as this probably uses Array.Copy under the covers)

Yes, it is possible to resize an array. For example:

int[] arr = new int[5];
// increase size to 10
Array.Resize(ref arr, 10);
// decrease size to 3
Array.Resize(ref arr, 3);

If you create an array with CreateInstance() method, the Resize() method is not working. For example:

// create an integer array with size of 5
var arr = Array.CreateInstance(typeof(int), 5);
// this not work
Array.Resize(ref arr, 10);

The array size is not dynamic, even we can resize it. If you want a dynamic array, I think we can use generic List instead.

var list = new List<int>();
// add any item to the list
list.Add(5);
list.Add(8);
list.Add(12);
// we can remove it easily as well
list.Remove(5);
foreach(var item in list)
{
  Console.WriteLine(item);
}

In C#, arrays cannot be resized dynamically.

• One approach is to use System.Collections.ArrayList instead of a native array.

• Another (faster) solution is to re-allocate the array with a different size and to copy the contents of the old array to the new array.

  The generic function resizeArray (below) can be used to do that.

  public static System.Array ResizeArray (System.Array oldArray, int newSize)  
      {
        int oldSize = oldArray.Length;
        System.Type elementType = oldArray.GetType().GetElementType();
        System.Array newArray = System.Array.CreateInstance(elementType,newSize);
  
        int preserveLength = System.Math.Min(oldSize,newSize);
  
        if (preserveLength > 0)
        System.Array.Copy (oldArray,newArray,preserveLength);
  
       return newArray; 
    }  
  
   public static void Main ()  
         {
          int[] a = {1,2,3};
          a = (int[])ResizeArray(a,5);
          a[3] = 4;
          a[4] = 5;
  
          for (int i=0; i<a.Length; i++)
                System.Console.WriteLine (a[i]); 
          }