Syntax, mainly. It's the same physical representation in memory, yet you get the convenience of using multiple indices. So if you were working with a grid, you could use X and Y coordinates.

I can't think of any other reasons off the top of my head besides syntax and convenience.

[edited by - Zipster on October 10, 2003 11:30:56 PM]

Also, if you''re learning arrays, the multi-dimensional array is easier to learn. Myabe it''s just me, but when I first started the (y * 100 + x) messed me up on the linear arrays. Now that I know how to use them, that''s all I use.

-UltimaX-

"You wished for a white christmas... Now go shovel your wishes!"

Realloation of a multi-dimensional array is slower than reallocation of a single dimension array.

The main difference is the type (which sounds pretty obvious, but it''s actually very important). In terms of typesafety, a 100 element array of some type is completely different from a multidimensional array of the same type and they can not (directly) be used interchangeably. A pointer or reference to a multidiemnsional array is not equivalent to a pointer or reference to a single-dimensional array with the same number of elements. They conceptually represent different things even though implementation-wise they can be exactly the same. The best parallel that I can give are points and vectors (mathematical vectors). A point represents a location, while a vector represents magnitude with direction. Both are represented using the same components. This does not, however, mean they are the same concept, they just share similar low-level components. Much the same, multidimensional arrays, while internally are the same as single-dimensional arrays, differ in concept.