Question

I would like to use a row and column removing method in my array. Therefore I wanted to convert my array to ArrayList to use the RemoveAt(int index) method, but in Windows 8 Apps using .NET 4.5 there is no ArrayList. Could you give me a suggestion how to cast my simple int[,] array to another type, which has a row and column removing method?

Answer 1

You could just use a list of lists:

List<List<int>> array = new List<List<int>>();

And initialize it as follows

for (int i = 0; i < orig_array.Length, i++)
{
    array.Add(new List<int>(orig_array[i]));
}

Using this approach, array.RemoveAt(row) would remove an entire row, whereas array[row].RemoveAt(col) would remove an element.

EDIT: As phoog indicated, the above initialization would need to be modified for an array declared as int[,], as follows:

for (int row = 0; row < orig_array.GetLength(0), row++)
{
    array.Add(new List<int>());
    for (int col = 0; col < orig_array.GetLength(1); col++)
    {
        array[row].Add(orig_array[row, col]);
    }
}

The advantage to using a jagged array (as opposed to a rectangular array) in this case is being able to access entire rows, without the need to explicitly loop through the values.