How to Print 2D Array in Java

1. Print 2D Array in Java Using Arrays.deepToString()
2. Print 2D Array Using Nested for-each Loops in Java
3. Print 2D Array Using Nested for Loops in Java

This tutorial discusses methods to print 2D arrays in Java. There are several ways to print 2D arrays in Java. Below we discuss each of these methods in detail.

Print 2D Array in Java Using Arrays.deepToString()

The Arrays class provides a built-in method Arrays.deepToString() to display a 2D array. The below example illustrates how to use this method.

import java.util.*;

public class MyClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    // Create a 2D array
    int rows = 3;
    int columns = 2;

    int[][] array = new int[rows][columns];

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

    // Print the 2D array
    System.out.println(Arrays.deepToString(array));
  }
}

Output:

[[0, 0], [0, 0], [0, 0]]

It is the simplest method to print the content of a 2D array in Java.

Print 2D Array Using Nested for-each Loops in Java

This method uses the for-each loops twice to iterate over the 2D array. The below example illustrates this.

import java.util.*;

public class MyClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    int rows = 3;
    int columns = 2;

    int[][] array = new int[rows][columns];

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

    for (int[] x : array) {
      for (int y : x) {
        System.out.print(y + " ");
      }
      System.out.println();
    }
  }
}

Output:

0 0 
0 0 
0 0 

A 2D array is essentially an array of arrays. In the above example, the first for loop loops over each array in the 2D array (which is equivalent to a row in a 2D array) while the nested second for loop iterates over the individual elements (which is equivalent to column values of the particular row).

Print 2D Array Using Nested for Loops in Java

This method uses two nested for loops to iterate over the 2D array and print the contents. The below example illustrates this.

import java.util.*;
public class MyClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    int rows = 3;
    int columns = 2;

    int[][] array = new int[rows][columns];

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

    for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < array[i].length; j++) {
        System.out.print(array[i][j] + " ");
      }
      System.out.println();
    }
  }
}

Output:

0 0 
0 0 
0 0

This method is just a different variant of the nested for-each loops. We iterate over every column for each row and print the element at that position.