How to reinitialize an array?

Question

So I have this array initialized:

string[] names = { "Joe", "Bob", "", "", "Marcus", "" };

Now I want to change the contents in a similar manner. I tried:

names = {"Happy", "", "", "Go", "", "Lucky"};

but this results in the error,

Only assignment, call, increment, decrement, and new object expressions can be used as a statement

Is there a way to bulk-assign the contents of an array like I am trying to do?

Answer 1

The raw { ... } syntax can only be used when declaring the array.

To create a new array instance, use new string[] { ... }. You can then assign this new array instance to the variable:

names = new string[] {"Happy", "", "", "Go", "", "Lucky"};

Note that the old array instance will not be affected.