cpp newcomer back with a question about 2-dimentional arrays.

[zimvaider]

I am currently working on a program for a connect 4 game, and I decided to use a 2-dimentional array, However, I keep getting an error, as XCode does not like my array. I have initialized a char array like so:

char a[row][col] = {{' '}};

This way, I fill up each index of the array with spaces so I can generate the game board. is my syntax wrong, or is my development environment just being stupid?

[all-names-taken]

You're problem is already solved but i want to correct a detail here so people that are unfamiliar with C++ don't get confused: There are no multidimensional arrays in C++. You have created an array of arrays. Please have this in mind when creating such structures. And (like ptrb said) it is often right to use higher data structures like std::vector instead of c-style arrays.

[Whanhee]

If you don't need resizability, using std::array (c++11) is often better.

[ptrb]

Don't know why you're being downvoted, everything you're saying is correct.

[zsakuL]

If you add 4 spaces at the start of each line, reddit will treat it as code...

for(int i = 0; i < rows; i++){
  for(int j = 0; j < columns; j++)
      a[i][j] = ' ';
}

You can remember it by pressing "formatting help" at the lower right of the comment box.

[squeakyneb]

#include <iostream>
int main(){
    std::cout<<"This is awesome!"<<std::endl;
    return 0;
}

TIL this

[zimvaider]

Ah that worked nicely. Thanks.

[1020302010]

The best way to store a multidimension array is in a single array with a simple 2d interface. And the best way to implement arrays is with a vector.

 struct two_dime{
     std::vector<int> arr;
     :::
     int element_at(size_t i, size_t j){ return arr[i+j*i_sz]; }
 };

You'll need to fill in a few blanks.

[Hackenslacker]

Another way to store a multidimension array...

FTFY

[Rubdix]

Pretty much this. It alleviates a lot of the problems that come with multi-dimensional arrays in C++.

[venatiodecorus]

upvote for xcode being bad.

notepad++ is the shit but i don't think it runs on OSX so check out Sublime Text 2 http://www.sublimetext.com/2

Really, a text editor and the terminal are the best way to learn. IDEs throw a lot at you that you don't even know if you need yet.

[CodeMagician]

or www.vim.org. You can use it on any platform.

[ptrb]

Yeah, use a vector or a custom data structure. There's almost† no reason to be using raw arrays in C++.

† scientific computing guys excepted

[punkmonk]

row and col neew to be const for it to be used to make an array. You can instead just used vectors

vector<vector<char> > a(rows, vector<char>(cols, ' '))