Array Size in Visual Basic
The size of an array is the product of the lengths of all its dimensions. It represents the total number of elements currently contained in the array.
The following example declares a three-dimensional array.
Dim prices(3, 4, 5) As Long
The overall size of the array in variable prices is (3 + 1) x (4 + 1) x (5 + 1) = 120.
Array Size Considerations
There are several things to keep in mind when dealing with the size of an array.
Dimension Length
The index of each dimension is 0-based, which means it ranges from 0 through its upper bound. Therefore, the length of a given dimension is greater by 1 than the declared upper bound for that dimension.
Length Limits
The length of every dimension of an array is limited to the maximum value of the Integer data type, which is (2 ^ 31) - 1. However, the total size of an array is also limited by the memory available on your system. If you attempt to initialize an array that exceeds the amount of available RAM, the common language runtime throws an OutOfMemoryException exception.
Size and Element Size
An array's size is independent of the data type of its elements. The size always represents the total number of elements, not the number of bytes that they consume in storage.
Memory Consumption
It is not safe to make any assumptions regarding how an array is stored in memory. Storage varies on platforms of different data widths, so the same array can consume more memory on a 64-bit system than on a 32-bit system. Depending on system configuration when you initialize an array, the common language runtime (CLR) can assign storage either to pack elements as close together as possible, or to align them all on natural hardware boundaries. Also, an array requires a storage overhead for its control information, and this overhead increases with each added dimension.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Declare an Array Variable
How to: Create an Array
How to: Initialize an Array Variable
How to: Determine the Size of an Array
How to: Change the Size of an Array
How to: Determine the Length of One Dimension of an Array
Troubleshooting Arrays