Array vs. Table — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Urooj Arif — Updated on May 10, 2024
An array organizes items in indexed positions, typically in programming; a table organizes data into rows and columns for easy visualization.
Difference Between Array and Table
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
An array is a fundamental data structure in programming used to store multiple items of the same type at contiguous memory locations. Each element can be accessed by its index. Whereas, a table is a way to visualize information in rows and columns, making it easy to compare and analyze data.
Arrays are commonly used in computer science and programming languages like Java, C++, and Python to handle collections of data efficiently. On the other hand, tables are extensively used in databases, spreadsheets, and data presentation to organize and display data comprehensively.
In an array, the data handling is more about computations and processing, such as sorting and searching algorithms. Whereas, in a table, the focus is often on data relationship and retrieval, such as querying with SQL in a database.
Arrays are strictly used for storing data, where each item stored is typically of the same data type. On the other hand, tables can contain different types of data across columns but maintain uniformity in each column.
Arrays have a fixed size once initialized in many programming environments, which can limit flexibility. Tables, however, can often be dynamically adjusted in size, especially in applications like spreadsheets and databases.
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Comparison Chart
Data Structure
Linear, contiguous memory
Rows and columns
Usage
Programming, data handling
Data visualization, database management
Indexing
By integer indices
By row and column names/numbers
Data Type
Uniform data types
Can vary by column
Flexibility
Fixed size (usually)
Size can be adjusted dynamically
Compare with Definitions
Array
Typically requires specifying the size at the time of creation.
In C++, you declare an array size like this: int array[10];.
Table
Tables are dynamic, allowing addition of rows and columns.
Adding a new column in a database to store email addresses.
Array
Used to implement other data structures like stacks and queues.
An array can be used to implement a stack by adding or removing elements from one end.
Table
Used in relational databases to facilitate data management.
SQL uses tables to store and query data efficiently.
Array
A collection of items stored at contiguous memory locations and accessed using indices.
In Java, int[] array = {10, 20, 30}; initializes an array with three integers.
Table
A set of data elements arranged in rows and columns.
A database table with columns for name, age, and address.
Array
Arrays can be multi-dimensional, allowing representation of data in multiple dimensions.
A two-dimensional array can represent a matrix in a programming context.
Table
Supports complex querying and data relationships.
Joining two tables in a database based on a common column.
Array
Provides efficient access to elements through direct indexing.
Accessing the fifth element in an array is done by array[4];.
Table
Can include headers to identify the column or row data.
The first row in a spreadsheet typically contains headers.
Array
An array is a systematic arrangement of similar objects, usually in rows and columns.
Table
A set of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
The population has grown, as shown in table 1
Array
To set out for display or use; place in an orderly arrangement
Arrayed the whole regiment on the parade ground.
Table
A piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, providing a level surface for eating, writing, or working at
She put the plate on the table
He rang the restaurant to book a table for lunch
Array
To dress, especially in fine clothes; adorn.
Table
A flat, typically rectangular, vertical surface; a panel.
Array
An orderly, often imposing arrangement
An array of royal jewels.
Table
Present formally for discussion or consideration at a meeting
More than 200 amendments to the bill have already been tabled
Array
An impressively large number, as of persons or objects
An array of heavily armed troops.
An array of spare parts.
Table
Postpone consideration of
I'd like the issue to be tabled for the next few months
Array
Splendid attire; fine clothing.
Table
Strengthen (a sail) by making a hem at the edge.
Array
A rectangular arrangement of quantities in rows and columns, as in a matrix.
Table
A piece of furniture usually supported by one or more legs and having a flat top surface on which objects can be placed
A dinner table.
A poker table.
Array
Numerical data linearly ordered by magnitude.
Table
The objects laid out for a meal on this article of furniture.
Array
An arrangement of usually identical devices, often sensors, that function as a unit
An array of solar panels.
Table
The food and drink served at meals; fare
Kept an excellent table.
Array
(Computers) A group of memory elements accessed by one or more indices.
Table
The company of people assembled around a table, as for a meal.
Array
Clothing and ornamentation.
Table
Either of the leaves of a backgammon board.
Array
7, Laws N21|url=http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/129.html|passage=Sovay, Sovay all on a day, She dressed herself in man's array, With a sword and a pistol all by her side, To meet her true love to meet her true love away did ride.}}
Table
Tables(Obsolete) The game of backgammon.
Array
A collection laid out to be viewed in full.
Table
A plateau or tableland.
Array
An orderly series, arrangement or sequence.
Table
A flat facet cut across the top of a precious stone.
Array
Order; a regular and imposing arrangement; disposition in regular lines; hence, order of battle.
Drawn up in battle array
Table
A stone or gem cut in this fashion.
Array
A large collection.
We offer a dazzling array of choices.
Table
The front part of the body of a stringed instrument.
Array
(mathematics) Common name for matrix.
Table
The sounding board of a harp.
Array
(programming) Any of various data structures designed to hold multiple elements of the same type; especially, a data structure that holds these elements in adjacent memory locations so that they may be retrieved using numeric indices.
Table
(Architecture) A raised horizontal surface or continuous band on an exterior wall; a stringcourse.
Array
(legal) A ranking or setting forth in order, by the proper officer, of a jury as impanelled in a cause; the panel itself; or the whole body of jurors summoned to attend the court.
Table
A part of the human palm framed by four lines, analyzed in palmistry.
Array
(military) A militia.
Table
An orderly arrangement of data, especially one in which the data are arranged in columns and rows in an essentially rectangular form.
Array
A group of hedgehogs.
Table
An abbreviated list, as of contents; a synopsis.
Array
A microarray.
Table
An engraved slab or tablet bearing an inscription or device.
Array
To clothe and ornament; to adorn or attire.
He was arrayed in his finest robes and jewels.
Table
(Anatomy) The inner or outer flat layer of bones of the skull separated by the diploe.
Array
To lay out in an orderly arrangement; to deploy or marshal.
Table
Tables A system of laws or decrees; a code
The tables of Moses.
Array
(legal) To set in order, as a jury, for the trial of a cause; that is, to call them one at a time.
Table
To put or place on a table.
Array
Order; a regular and imposing arrangement; disposition in regular lines; hence, order of battle; as, drawn up in battle array.
Wedged together in the closest array.
Table
To postpone consideration of (a piece of legislation, for example); shelve.
Array
The whole body of persons thus placed in order; an orderly collection; hence, a body of soldiers.
A gallant array of nobles and cavaliers.
Table
To enter in a list or table; tabulate.
Array
An imposing series of things.
Their long array of sapphire and of gold.
Table
Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.
Array
Dress; garments disposed in order upon the person; rich or beautiful apparel.
Table
An item of furniture with a flat top surface raised above the ground, usually on one or more legs.
Set that dish on the table over there, please.
Array
A ranking or setting forth in order, by the proper officer, of a jury as impaneled in a cause.
Table
The board or table-like furniture on which a game is played, such as snooker, billiards, or draughts.
Array
To place or dispose in order, as troops for battle; to marshal.
By torch and trumpet fast arrayed,Each horseman drew his battle blade.
These doubts will be arrayed before their minds.
Table
A flat tray which can be used as a table.
Array
To deck or dress; to adorn with dress; to cloth to envelop; - applied esp. to dress of a splendid kind.
Pharaoh . . . arrayed him in vestures of fine linen.
In gelid caves with horrid gloom arrayed.
Table
A supply of food or entertainment.
The baron kept a fine table and often held large banquets.
Array
To set in order, as a jury, for the trial of a cause; that is, to call them man by man.
Table
A service of Holy Communion.
Array
An orderly arrangement;
An array of troops in battle order
Table
(backgammon) One half of a backgammon board, which is divided into the inner and outer table.
Array
An impressive display;
It was a bewildering array of books
His tools were in an orderly array on the basement wall
Table
A group of people at a table, for example, for a meal, meeting or game.
Array
Especially fine or decorative clothing
Table
The lineup of players at a given table.
That's the strongest table I've ever seen at a European Poker Tour event
Array
An arrangement of aerials spaced to give desired directional characteristics
Table
A group of players meeting regularly to play a campaign.
Array
Lay out in a line
Table
A group of diners at a given table or tables.
Table 9 wants another round of beers.
John always gets the best tips because he gets the best tables! It's not fair!
Array
Align oneself with a group or a way of thinking
Table
A two-dimensional presentation of data.
Table
A matrix or grid of data arranged in rows and columns.
Table
A collection of arithmetic calculations arranged in a table, such as multiplications in a multiplication table.
The children were practising multiplication tables.
Don’t you know your tables?
Here is a table of natural logarithms.
Table
A lookup table, most often a set of vectors.
Table
(sports) A visual representation of a classification of teams or individuals based on their success over a predetermined period.
Table
(musical instruments) The top of a stringed instrument, particularly a member of the violin family: the side of the instrument against which the strings vibrate.
Table
The flat topmost facet of a cut diamond.
Table
To tabulate; to put into a table or grid.
To table fines
Table
To supply (a guest, client etc.) with food at a table; to feed.
Table
(obsolete) To delineate; to represent, as in a picture; to depict.
Table
(non-US) To put on the table of a commission or legislative assembly; to propose for formal discussion or consideration, to put on the agenda.
Table
To remove from the agenda, to postpone dealing with; to shelve to indefinitely postpone consideration or discussion of something.
The legislature tabled the amendment, so they will not be discussing it until later.
The motion was tabled, ensuring that it would not be taken up until a later date.
Table
To join (pieces of timber) together using coaks.
Table
To put on a table.
Table
(nautical) To make board hems in the skirts and bottoms of (sails) in order to strengthen them in the part attached to the bolt-rope.
Table
A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab.
A bagnio paved with fair tables of marble.
Table
A thin, flat piece of wood, stone, metal, or other material, on which anything is cut, traced, written, or painted; a tablet
And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
And stand there with your tables to gleanThe golden sentences.
Table
Any smooth, flat surface upon which an inscription, a drawing, or the like, may be produced.
The opposite walls are painted by Rubens, which, with that other of the Infanta taking leave of Don Philip, is a most incomparable table.
St. Antony has a table that hangs up to him from a poor peasant.
Table
Hence, in a great variety of applications: A condensed statement which may be comprehended by the eye in a single view; a methodical or systematic synopsis; the presentation of many items or particulars in one group; a scheme; a schedule.
Table
A view of the contents of a work; a statement of the principal topics discussed; an index; a syllabus; a synopsis; as, a table of contents.
Table
An article of furniture, consisting of a flat slab, board, or the like, having a smooth surface, fixed horizontally on legs, and used for a great variety of purposes, as in eating, writing, or working.
We may againGive to our tables meat.
The nymph the table spread.
Table
A list of substances and their properties; especially, the a list of the elementary substances with their atomic weights, densities, symbols, etc.
Table
Hence, food placed on a table to be partaken of; fare; entertainment; as, to set a good table.
Table
Any collection and arrangement in a condensed form of many particulars or values, for ready reference, as of weights, measures, currency, specific gravities, etc.; also, a series of numbers following some law, and expressing particular values corresponding to certain other numbers on which they depend, and by means of which they are taken out for use in computations; as, tables of logarithms, sines, tangents, squares, cubes, etc.; annuity tables; interest tables; astronomical tables, etc.
Table
The company assembled round a table.
I drink the general joy of the whole table.
Table
The arrangement or disposition of the lines which appear on the inside of the hand.
Mistress of a fairer tableHath not history for fable.
Table
One of the two, external and internal, layers of compact bone, separated by diploë, in the walls of the cranium.
Table
A stringcourse which includes an offset; esp., a band of stone, or the like, set where an offset is required, so as to make it decorative. See Water table.
Table
The board on the opposite sides of which backgammon and draughts are played.
This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice,That, when he plays at tables, chides the dice.
Table
A circular plate of crown glass.
A circular plate or table of about five feet diameter weighs on an average nine pounds.
Table
The upper flat surface of a diamond or other precious stone, the sides of which are cut in angles.
Table
A plane surface, supposed to be transparent and perpendicular to the horizon; - called also perspective plane.
Table
The part of a machine tool on which the work rests and is fastened.
Table
To form into a table or catalogue; to tabulate; as, to table fines.
Table
To delineate, as on a table; to represent, as in a picture.
Tabled and pictured in the chambers of meditation.
Table
To supply with food; to feed.
Table
To insert, as one piece of timber into another, by alternate scores or projections from the middle, to prevent slipping; to scarf.
Table
To lay or place on a table, as money.
Table
In parliamentary usage, to lay on the table; to postpone, by a formal vote, the consideration of (a bill, motion, or the like) till called for, or indefinitely.
Table
To enter upon the docket; as, to table charges against some one.
Table
To make board hems in the skirts and bottoms of (sails) in order to strengthen them in the part attached to the boltrope.
Table
To live at the table of another; to board; to eat.
Table
A set of data arranged in rows and columns;
See table 1
Table
A piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs;
It was a sturdy table
Table
A piece of furniture with tableware for a meal laid out on it;
I reserved a table at my favorite restaurant
Table
Flat tableland with steep edges;
The tribe was relatively safe on the mesa but they had to descend into the valley for water
Table
A company of people assembled at a table for a meal or game;
He entertained the whole table with his witty remarks
Table
Food or meals in general;
She sets a fine table
Room and board
Table
Hold back to a later time;
Let's postpone the exam
Common Curiosities
Can arrays be resized?
Typically, arrays cannot be resized once declared, although languages like Python allow for dynamic data structures like lists.
How do tables differ from arrays in terms of data types?
Tables can hold different data types across columns, whereas arrays usually store the same data type.
How does indexing work in arrays and tables?
Arrays use numerical indices for data access, while tables use column and row identifiers.
Can you modify the structure of a table after it's created?
Yes, most database systems allow you to modify tables by adding or removing columns and rows.
What are the advantages of using tables in databases?
Tables allow for structured data storage, easy data manipulation, and support for complex queries.
What are multi-dimensional arrays?
Multi-dimensional arrays are arrays that have more than one dimension, like a 2D array used for matrices.
What is the primary use of an array?
Arrays are primarily used for storing data in a structured format that allows efficient access and manipulation.
Are there performance differences between arrays and tables?
Arrays generally offer faster access times due to direct indexing, whereas tables provide more flexible data manipulation.
How do you initialize an array in C++?
You can initialize an array in C++ using the syntax int array[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};.
What are the limitations of using arrays?
Arrays have fixed sizes and require homogenous data types, which can limit their use in dynamic scenarios.
How can tables be used to enhance data analysis?
Tables, especially in database and spreadsheet applications, facilitate complex queries and data analysis.
What is the difference in data retrieval between arrays and tables?
Data retrieval in arrays is by direct indexing, which is fast; in tables, it may involve searching or querying, which is more flexible but can be slower.
What is a typical scenario for using a table?
A typical scenario for using a table is in a relational database where data interrelationships are managed.
How do multi-dimensional tables work?
Multi-dimensional tables, such as pivot tables in spreadsheets, allow for data to be analyzed across more than one dimension.
Are arrays suitable for all types of data storage?
Arrays are best for simple, structured data storage and fast access but are not suitable for complex data relationships.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
