How to Declare an Array of Objects in C#

Muhammad Zeeshan Feb 02, 2024
  1. Array of Objects in C#
  2. Declare an Array of Objects With String Data Type in C#
  3. Declare an Array of Objects With Float and Integer Data Type in C#
How to Declare an Array of Objects in C#

This article will introduce how to declare or initialize an array of objects. Using an array of objects allows us to access class methods with each object.

Array of Objects in C#

Object arrays can be used in various ways; they keep components of many sorts together in a single collection. An object reference can reference any derived type instance.

Here are some examples of object array declarations in C#.

Declare an Array of Objects With String Data Type in C#

Syntax:

employee[] e = new employee[3];
e[0] = new employee();
e[1] = new employee();
e[2] = new employee();

Example:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication1 {
  class employee {
    private string empName;

    private int empId;

    private string empDesig;

    public void EmpInfo(string empName, int empId, string empDesig) {
      this.empId = empId;
      this.empDesig = empDesig;
      this.empName = empName;
    }
    public void showEmployeeDetails() {
      Console.WriteLine("\nEmployee Record: ");
      Console.WriteLine("\t    Emp Name: " + empName);
      Console.WriteLine("\t        Id  : " + empId);
      Console.WriteLine("\tDesignation : " + empDesig);
    }
  }

  class EmployeeTest {
    public static void Main() {
      employee[] e = new employee[3];
      e[0] = new employee();
      e[1] = new employee();
      e[2] = new employee();
      e[0].EmpInfo("Shan", 132, "Manager");
      e[0].showEmployeeDetails();
      e[1].EmpInfo("Casper", 131, "CEO");
      e[1].showEmployeeDetails();
      e[2].EmpInfo("Olga", 139, "Team Leader");
      e[2].showEmployeeDetails();
    }
  }
}

Output:

Employee Record:
	    Emp Name: Shan
	        Id  : 132
	Designation : Manager
Employee Record:
	    Emp Name: Casper
	        Id  : 131
	Designation : CEO

Employee Record:
	    Emp Name: Olga
	        Id  : 139
	Designation : Team Leader

By following these steps, we can declare an array of objects.

  1. First, we must import the following libraries, which are required.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
  1. Now, create a class named employee, and inside the class, we’ll declare 3 private data members of the employee.
class employee {
  private string empName;
  private int empId;
  private string empDesig;
}
  1. Create a constructor named EmpInfo() inside the employee class and pass 3 arguments named empName, empId, empDesig, respectively. The EmpInfo() is a setter method to set the private variable values of the employee object, which are not accessible outside the employee class.
public void EmpInfo(string empName, int empId, string empDesig) {
  this.empId = empId;
  this.empDesig = empDesig;
  this.empName = empName;
}
  1. We built the showEmployeeDetails() function inside the employee class to display employee details. We built this method to display employee data on the console because employee variables are unavailable outside the class.

We can directly call showEmployeeDetails() on our employee object to display employee data in the console due to the availability of this function.

public void showEmployeeDetails() {
  Console.WriteLine("\nEmployee Record: ");
  Console.WriteLine("\t    Emp Name: " + empName);
  Console.WriteLine("\t        Id  : " + empId);
  Console.WriteLine("\tDesignation : " + empDesig);
}
  1. We’ll make an array of objects in the Main class. All objects for the employee class will be stored in the array we’ve constructed. Then we’ll create and initialize two objects.

After that, we’ll call the constructor we previously created within our employee class with a value for each variable for both of our objects.

Then, within our employee class, we’ll call showEmployeeDetails() to print the values of each employee that we’ve assigned in the preceding code block.

class EmployeeTest {
  public static void Main() {
    employee[] e = new employee[3];
    e[0] = new employee();
    e[1] = new employee();
    e[2] = new employee();
    e[0].EmpInfo("Shan", 132, "Manager");
    e[0].showEmployeeDetails();
    e[1].EmpInfo("Casper", 131, "CEO");
    e[1].showEmployeeDetails();
    e[2].EmpInfo("Olga", 139, "Team Leader");
    e[2].showEmployeeDetails();
  }
}

Declare an Array of Objects With Float and Integer Data Type in C#

Syntax:

object[] num = new object[5];

num[0] = 2.15;
num[1] = 'S';
num[2] = 27;

Example:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

class DeclareObjectArray {
  static public void Main() {
    object[] num = new object[5];
    // float value
    num[0] = 2.15;
    // Character
    num[1] = 'S';
    // integer value
    num[2] = 27;
    // null value
    num[3] = null;
    // system object
    num[4] = new object();

    foreach (var Items in num) {
      Console.WriteLine(Items);
    }
  }
}

Output:

2.15
S
27

System.Object

In the Main class, we’ll create an array of objects for this example.

The array we’ve created will hold all of the objects for the num class. Then we’ll make 5 objects and set them up.

After that, we’ll execute the constructer we created before with a value for each variable for all of our instances.

Muhammad Zeeshan avatar Muhammad Zeeshan avatar

I have been working as a Flutter app developer for a year now. Firebase and SQLite have been crucial in the development of my android apps. I have experience with C#, Windows Form Based C#, C, Java, PHP on WampServer, and HTML/CSS on MYSQL, and I have authored articles on their theory and issue solving. I'm a senior in an undergraduate program for a bachelor's degree in Information Technology.

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