Passing Arrays to Functions In C++

Overview

we can pass array parameter three types

• Sized Array Parameter
• Unsized Array Parameter
• Pointer Array Parameter

As working term above three types is same.

data_type[]

and

data_type[size] // here size is a compile-time number,which is array size.

//Are exactly the pointer reference also same as
data_type*

Syntax

// Type 1 : Sized Array Parameter
int sum1(int tmp[12]);

// Type 2 : Unsized Array Parameter
int sum2(int tmp[]);

// Type 3 : Pointer Reference Array Parameter
int sum3(int * tmp);

Passing Arrays to Functions example program In C++

/*  Passing Arrays to Functions example program In C++ Programming Language
    Array Example In C++*/

// Header Files
#include <iostream>
#include<conio.h>

using namespace std;

// Type 1 : Sized Array Parameter Function Declaration
int sum1(int tmp[12]);
// Type 2 : Unsized Array Parameter Function Declaration
int sum2(int tmp[]);
// Type 3 : Pointer Array Parameter Function Declaration
int sum3(int * tmp);

int main() {
   int total = 0;
   // declaring and Initializing sales array in C
   int sales[12] = {100, 90, 80, 110, 115, 210, 80, 95, 125, 135, 140, 174};

   int i; // Variable for access sales array index
   cout << "Passing Arrays to Functions :Sales Sum Demo : In C++ Example Program\n";

   total = sum1(sales);
   cout << "\nType 1 : Sum :" << total;

   total = sum2(sales);
   cout << "\nType 2 : Sum :" << total;

   total = sum3(sales);
   cout << "\nType 3 : Sum :" << total;

   getch();
   return 0;
}

// Type 1 : Sized Array Parameter Function Definition

int sum1(int tmp[12]) {
   int sum = 0, i;
   for (i = 0; i < 12; i++) {
      sum = sum + tmp[i];
   }
   return sum;
}

// Type 2 : Unsized Array Parameter Function Definition

int sum2(int tmp[]) {
   int sum = 0, i;
   for (i = 0; i < 12; i++) {
      sum = sum + tmp[i];
   }
   return sum;
}

// Type 3 : Pointer Array Parameter Function Definition

int sum3(int * tmp) {
   int sum = 0, i;
   for (i = 0; i < 12; i++) {
      sum = sum + tmp[i];
   }
   return sum;
}

Sample Output

Passing Arrays to Functions :Sales Sum Demo : In C++ Example Program

Type 1 : Sum :1454
Type 2 : Sum :1454
Type 3 : Sum :1454

How It Works

This C++ program demonstrates Passing Arrays to Functions. It first prepares the data it needs, then walks through the data with a loop to compute the result, and finally prints the output shown in the Sample Output above.

1. Declare the variables that hold the program’s data.
2. Iterate over the data using a loop to apply the logic.
3. Print the final result to the console so you can compare it with the sample output.

Try changing the input values and re-running the program to see how the output changes — this is the fastest way to understand how the logic behaves.

Related Pages

Continue learning with these related tutorials and programs:

• C++ Tutorials — Browse all C++ Tutorials.
• Understanding Array in C++ — Tutorial — array declaration, access and iteration.
• Read user input into Array in C++ — More in array in c.