Two Dimensional Array Loop Search - Exercise

Using loops in Java

Exercise Scoring

• Instructions
  The following exercise is designed to check your understanding of Java arrays and loop statements. Read the exercise, then write or paste your answer into the text area below it. Create an application called Loopy that consists of a main() method and an additional static method named zero(). Here is the method definitions for zero().
  static void zero(int[][] a, int n);
  The method zero() should search the two-dimensional array a and change the first occurrence of n to 0. One approach is to use nested for loops to search the array and then to use a break statement to stop searching once an occurrence of n has been found and set to 0. You are free to search the array however you like. Depending on your approach, the first occurrence of n that you find may not be the same as that found using a different approach. That is fine. All that is required is that you change the first occurrence that you find. Your main() method should create and initialize a two-dimensional array of int and then demonstrate the use of the method zero(). You might consider displaying the contents of your array before and after calling zero(). Note that in Java, two-dimensional arrays are actually arrays of arrays, and therefore need not be rectangular. Your solution should also work with non-rectangular two-dimensional arrays. Here's an example of declaring and initializing a non-rectangular array:

int[][] a = {{1, 3, 2}, {2, 1}};

• Type: It is a two-dimensional array of integers (int[][]).
• Structure:
  • The array a contains two sub-arrays:
    • The first sub-array has 3 elements: {1, 3, 2}.
    • The second sub-array has 2 elements: {2, 1}.
• Dimensions:
  • Rows: There are 2 rows (corresponding to the two sub-arrays).
  • Columns: The number of columns is not uniform across rows:
    • The first row has 3 columns.
    • The second row has 2 columns.
• Content:
  • First row: a[0] contains [1, 3, 2].
  • Second row: a[1] contains [2, 1].
• Accessing Elements:
  • a[0][0] would return 1
  • a[0][1] would return 3
  • a[0][2] would return 2
  • a[1][0] would return 2
  • a[1][1] would return 1