Arrays

An array is a collection of data elements of the same type. An array literal is a list of expressions surrounded by square brackets. An individual element can be accessed using an index expression. Indexes start from 0:

mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(nums) // `[1, 2, 3]`
println(nums[0]) // `1`
println(nums[1]) // `2`

nums[1] = 5
println(nums) // `[1, 5, 3]`

An element can be appended to the end of an array using the push operator <<. It can also append an entire array.

mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
nums << 4
println(nums) // "[1, 2, 3, 4]"

// append array
nums << [5, 6, 7]
println(nums) // "[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]"

mut names := ['John']
names << 'Peter'
names << 'Sam'
// names << 10  <-- This will not compile. `names` is an array of strings.

val in array returns true if the array contains val. See in operator.

names := ['John', 'Peter', 'Sam']
println('Alex' in names) // "false"

Array Fields

There are two fields that control the "size" of an array:

  • len: length - the number of pre-allocated and initialized elements in the array
  • cap: capacity - the amount of memory space which has been reserved for elements, but not initialized or counted as elements. The array can grow up to this size without being reallocated. Usually, V takes care of this field automatically but there are cases where the user may want to do manual optimizations (see below).
mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(nums.len) // "3"
println(nums.cap) // "3" or greater
nums = [] // The array is now empty
println(nums.len) // "0"

data is a field (of type voidptr) with the address of the first element. This is for low-level unsafe code.

Note that the fields are read-only and can't be modified by the user.

Array Initialization

The type of an array is determined by the first element:

  • [1, 2, 3] is an array of ints ([]int).
  • ['a', 'b'] is an array of strings ([]string).

The user can explicitly specify the type for the first element: [byte(16), 32, 64, 128]. V arrays are homogeneous (all elements must have the same type). This means that code like [1, 'a'] will not compile.

The above syntax is fine for a small number of known elements but for very large or empty arrays there is a second initialization syntax:

mut a := []int{len: 10000, cap: 30000, init: 3}

This creates an array of 10000 int elements that are all initialized with 3. Memory space is reserved for 30000 elements. The parameters len, cap and init are optional; len defaults to 0 and init to the default initialization of the element type (0 for numerical type, '' for string, etc). The run time system makes sure that the capacity is not smaller than len (even if a smaller value is specified explicitly):

arr := []int{len: 5, init: -1}
// `arr == [-1, -1, -1, -1, -1]`, arr.cap == 5

// Declare an empty array:
users := []int{}

Setting the capacity improves performance of pushing elements to the array as reallocations can be avoided:

mut numbers := []int{cap: 1000}
println(numbers.len) // 0
// Now appending elements won't reallocate
for i in 0 .. 1000 {
	numbers << i
}

Note: The above code uses a range for statement.

You can initialize the array by accessing the it variable which gives the index as shown here:

count := []int{len: 4, init: it}
assert count == [0, 1, 2, 3]

mut square := []int{len: 6, init: it * it}
// square == [0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

Array Types

An array can be of these types: | Types | Example Definition | | ------------ | ------------------------------------ | | Number | []int,[]i64 | | String | []string | | Rune | []rune | | Boolean | []bool | | Array | [][]int | | Struct | []MyStructName | | Channel | []chan f64 | | Function | []MyFunctionType []fn (int) bool | | Interface | []MyInterfaceName | | Sum Type | []MySumTypeName | | Generic Type | []T | | Map | []map[string]f64 | | Enum | []MyEnumType | | Alias | []MyAliasTypeName | | Thread | []thread int | | Reference | []&f64 | | Shared | []shared MyStructType |

Example Code:

This example uses Structs and Sum Types to create an array which can handle different types (e.g. Points, Lines) of data elements.

struct Point {
	x int
	y int
}

struct Line {
	p1 Point
	p2 Point
}

type ObjectSumType = Line | Point

mut object_list := []ObjectSumType{}
object_list << Point{1, 1}
object_list << Line{
	p1: Point{3, 3}
	p2: Point{4, 4}
}
dump(object_list)
/*
object_list: [ObjectSumType(Point{
    x: 1
    y: 1
}), ObjectSumType(Line{
    p1: Point{
        x: 3
        y: 3
    }
    p2: Point{
        x: 4
        y: 4
    }
})]
*/

Multidimensional Arrays

Arrays can have more than one dimension.

2d array example:

mut a := [][]int{len: 2, init: []int{len: 3}}
a[0][1] = 2
println(a) // [[0, 2, 0], [0, 0, 0]]

3d array example:

mut a := [][][]int{len: 2, init: [][]int{len: 3, init: []int{len: 2}}}
a[0][1][1] = 2
println(a) // [[[0, 0], [0, 2], [0, 0]], [[0, 0], [0, 0], [0, 0]]]

Array methods

All arrays can be easily printed with println(arr) and converted to a string with s := arr.str().

Copying the data from the array is done with .clone():

nums := [1, 2, 3]
nums_copy := nums.clone()

Arrays can be efficiently filtered and mapped with the .filter() and .map() methods:

nums := [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
even := nums.filter(it % 2 == 0)
println(even) // [2, 4, 6]
// filter can accept anonymous functions
even_fn := nums.filter(fn (x int) bool {
	return x % 2 == 0
})
println(even_fn)

words := ['hello', 'world']
upper := words.map(it.to_upper())
println(upper) // ['HELLO', 'WORLD']
// map can also accept anonymous functions
upper_fn := words.map(fn (w string) string {
	return w.to_upper()
})
println(upper_fn) // ['HELLO', 'WORLD']

it is a builtin variable which refers to the element currently being processed in filter/map methods.

Additionally, .any() and .all() can be used to conveniently test for elements that satisfy a condition.

nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(nums.any(it == 2)) // true
println(nums.all(it >= 2)) // false

There are further built-in methods for arrays:

  • a.repeat(n) concatenates the array elements n times
  • a.insert(i, val) inserts a new element val at index i and shifts all following elements to the right
  • a.insert(i, [3, 4, 5]) inserts several elements
  • a.prepend(val) inserts a value at the beginning, equivalent to a.insert(0, val)
  • a.prepend(arr) inserts elements of array arr at the beginning
  • a.trim(new_len) truncates the length (if new_length < a.len, otherwise does nothing)
  • a.clear() empties the array without changing cap (equivalent to a.trim(0))
  • a.delete_many(start, size) removes size consecutive elements from index start – triggers reallocation
  • a.delete(index) equivalent to a.delete_many(index, 1)
  • a.delete_last() removes the last element
  • a.first() equivalent to a[0]
  • a.last() equivalent to a[a.len - 1]
  • a.pop() removes the last element and returns it
  • a.reverse() makes a new array with the elements of a in reverse order
  • a.reverse_in_place() reverses the order of elements in a
  • a.join(joiner) concatenates an array of strings into one string using joiner string as a separator

See also vlib/arrays.

Sorting Arrays

Sorting arrays of all kinds is very simple and intuitive. Special variables a and b are used when providing a custom sorting condition.

mut numbers := [1, 3, 2]
numbers.sort() // 1, 2, 3
numbers.sort(a > b) // 3, 2, 1

struct User {
	age  int
	name string
}

mut users := [User{21, 'Bob'}, User{20, 'Zarkon'}, User{25, 'Alice'}]
users.sort(a.age < b.age) // sort by User.age int field
users.sort(a.name > b.name) // reverse sort by User.name string field

V also supports custom sorting, through the sort_with_compare array method. Which expects a comparing function which will define the sort order. Useful for sorting on multiple fields at the same time by custom sorting rules. The code below sorts the array ascending on name and descending age.

struct User {
	age  int
	name string
}

mut users := [User{21, 'Bob'}, User{65, 'Bob'}, User{25, 'Alice'}]

custom_sort_fn := fn (a &User, b &User) int {
	// return -1 when a comes before b
	// return 0, when both are in same order
	// return 1 when b comes before a
	if a.name == b.name {
		if a.age < b.age {
			return 1
		}
		if a.age > b.age {
			return -1
		}
		return 0
	}
	if a.name < b.name {
		return -1
	} else if a.name > b.name {
		return 1
	}
	return 0
}
users.sort_with_compare(custom_sort_fn)

Array Slices

A slice is a part of a parent array. Initially it refers to the elements between two indices separated by a .. operator. The right-side index must be greater than or equal to the left side index.

If a right-side index is absent, it is assumed to be the array length. If a left-side index is absent, it is assumed to be 0.

nums := [0, 10, 20, 30, 40]
println(nums[1..4]) // [10, 20, 30]
println(nums[..4]) // [0, 10, 20, 30]
println(nums[1..]) // [10, 20, 30, 40]

In V slices are arrays themselves (they are not distinct types). As a result all array operations may be performed on them. E.g. they can be pushed onto an array of the same type:

array_1 := [3, 5, 4, 7, 6]
mut array_2 := [0, 1]
array_2 << array_1[..3]
println(array_2) // `[0, 1, 3, 5, 4]`

A slice is always created with the smallest possible capacity cap == len (see cap above) no matter what the capacity or length of the parent array is. As a result it is immediately reallocated and copied to another memory location when the size increases thus becoming independent from the parent array (copy on grow). In particular pushing elements to a slice does not alter the parent:

mut a := [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
mut b := a[2..4]
b[0] = 7 // `b[0]` is referring to `a[2]`
println(a) // `[0, 1, 7, 3, 4, 5]`
b << 9
// `b` has been reallocated and is now independent from `a`
println(a) // `[0, 1, 7, 3, 4, 5]` - no change
println(b) // `[7, 3, 9]`

Appending to the parent array may or may not make it independent from its child slices. The behaviour depends on the parent's capacity and is predictable:

mut a := []int{len: 5, cap: 6, init: 2}
mut b := a[1..4]
a << 3
// no reallocation - fits in `cap`
b[2] = 13 // `a[3]` is modified
a << 4
// a has been reallocated and is now independent from `b` (`cap` was exceeded)
b[1] = 3 // no change in `a`
println(a) // `[2, 2, 2, 13, 2, 3, 4]`
println(b) // `[2, 3, 13]`

You can call .clone() on the slice, if you do want to have an independent copy right away:

mut a := [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
mut b := a[2..4].clone()
b[0] = 7 // NB: `b[0]` is NOT referring to `a[2]`, as it would have been, without the .clone()
println(a) // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
println(b) // [7, 3]
Slices with negative indexes

V supports array and string slices with negative indexes. Negative indexing starts from the end of the array towards the start, for example -3 is equal to array.len - 3. Negative slices have a different syntax from normal slices, i.e. you need to add a gate between the array name and the square bracket: a#[..-3]. The gate specifies that this is a different type of slice and remember that the result is "locked" inside the array. The returned slice is always a valid array, though it may be empty:

a := [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
println(a#[-3..]) // [7, 8, 9]
println(a#[-20..]) // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
println(a#[-20..-8]) // [0, 1]
println(a#[..-3]) // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

// empty arrays
println(a#[-20..-10]) // []
println(a#[20..10]) // []
println(a#[20..30]) // []

Array method chaining

You can chain the calls of array methods like .filter() and .map() and use the it built-in variable to achieve a classic map/filter functional paradigm:

// using filter, map and negatives array slices
files := ['pippo.jpg', '01.bmp', '_v.txt', 'img_02.jpg', 'img_01.JPG']
filtered := files.filter(it#[-4..].to_lower() == '.jpg').map(it.to_upper())
// ['PIPPO.JPG', 'IMG_02.JPG', 'IMG_01.JPG']

Fixed size arrays

V also supports arrays with fixed size. Unlike ordinary arrays, their length is constant. You cannot append elements to them, nor shrink them. You can only modify their elements in place.

However, access to the elements of fixed size arrays is more efficient, they need less memory than ordinary arrays, and unlike ordinary arrays, their data is on the stack, so you may want to use them as buffers if you do not want additional heap allocations.

Most methods are defined to work on ordinary arrays, not on fixed size arrays. You can convert a fixed size array to an ordinary array with slicing:

mut fnums := [3]int{} // fnums is a fixed size array with 3 elements.
fnums[0] = 1
fnums[1] = 10
fnums[2] = 100
println(fnums) // => [1, 10, 100]
println(typeof(fnums).name) // => [3]int

fnums2 := [1, 10, 100]! // short init syntax that does the same (the syntax will probably change)

anums := fnums[..] // same as `anums := fnums[0..fnums.len]`
println(anums) // => [1, 10, 100]
println(typeof(anums).name) // => []int

Note that slicing will cause the data of the fixed size array to be copied to the newly created ordinary array.