Question

What is the difference between a 2D array and an array of arrays?

I have read comments that seem to differentiate between the two:

int** arr = ...;
cout << arr[i][j];

This breaks if he’s using 2d arrays, or pointer-to-array types, rather than an array of arrays. – @Dave

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See also: How do I use arrays in C++?

Answer 1

A 2 dimensional array is by definition an array of arrays.

What Dave was saying is that in that context, there are different semantics between the definition of a 2D array like this:

int x[][];

this:

int *x[];

or this:

int **x;