Const Arrays

Const arrays are basically compiler managed lists of data stored in the data section.

Syntax

// single dimensional
const <datatype> <n>[] = { <values> };

// two dimensional
const <datatype> <n>[][] = {
    { <values for the first "row"> },
    { <values for the second "row"> }
};

The difference between a single dimension array and a multi dimensional array is that the single dimension array is basically a single row with related data while a multi dimensional array allows for slightly better structured data of rows.

An example of when a multi dimensional array is preferred is when setting up values for different guns in a game. You can then have each row represent a single gun and the columns within have each value for it.

There is an important rule to keep in mind when working with multi dimensional arrays: each row must contain exactly the same number of values.

There is also an importance of choosing an appropriate data type, it will dictate what values you can use within the array. See the below table for more information about the available datatypes, their support, size, and range:

Datatype	Supports Multi-Dimension Arrays	Size Required Per Value	Minimum Value	Maximum Value
int8	Yes	8 bits (1 byte)	-128	127
uint8	Yes	8 bits (1 byte)	0	255
int16	Yes	16 bits (2 bytes)	-32,768	32,767
uint16	Yes	16 bits (2 bytes)	0	65,535
int32	Yes	32 bits (4 bytes)	-2,147,483,648	2,147,483,647
string	No	8 bits per character + 8 (1 byte + 1 byte)	N/A	N/A

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Accessing Data

Similar to how the data section works, all indexes always begin at 0 within each row, meaning the first value is stored at 0. When you want to access the data within you do so using the below syntax:

name[column];           // single dimensional
name[row][column];      // two dimensional

Below you'll see a couple of examples of how this works:

const int8 single_dimension[] = { 0, 1, 2 };

const uint8 multi_dimension[][] = {
    { 0, 1, 2 },
    { 3, 4, 5 }
};

int a, b;

main {
    a = single_dimension[1];       // 1
    b = multi_dimension[1][2];     // 5
}