How do we pass a 2D array as a parameter in C?

In C programming, passing an array as a parameter to a function is relatively easy, but what about a two-dimensional array? It can be a bit trickier, but the process is still straightforward once you understand it.

To pass a 2D array as a parameter in C, you need to specify the number of columns in the array within the function declaration. For example, let’s say we have a 2D array with three rows and four columns called arr. To pass this array to a function, the function declaration would look like this:

void function_name(int arr[][4], int rows);

In this function declaration, we have specified that the array has four columns. The rows parameter is not strictly necessary, but it can be useful if you need to know the number of rows in the array within the function.

Now that we have the function declaration, we can pass our 2D array to the function as follows:

function_name(arr, 3);

In this example, we are passing our arr 2D array to the function_name function with three rows. The number of columns is implicitly assumed to be four because we specified it in the function declaration.

Once we have passed the array to the function, we can access it just like we would any other array. For example, we can access the element in the first row and third column of the array like this:

int x = arr[0][2];

In summary, passing a 2D array as a parameter in C involves specifying the number of columns in the array within the function declaration. Once the array is passed to the function, it can be accessed just like any other array.

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