Array as reference type behavior in C Sharp (C#) - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Array as reference type behavior

📖 Scenario: Imagine you have a list of favorite fruits stored in an array. You want to see how changing this list in one place affects the list in another place because arrays in C# work as reference types.

🎯 Goal: You will create an array of fruits, assign it to another variable, change one fruit through the new variable, and observe how the original array changes too.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an array called fruits with these exact values: "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"

Create a new array variable called favoriteFruits and assign it the value of fruits

Change the second element (index 1) of favoriteFruits to "Blueberry"

Print the contents of the fruits array to show the change

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Understanding how arrays work as reference types helps when managing lists of data like user inputs, settings, or items in a shopping cart.

💼 Career

Many programming jobs require managing collections of data efficiently and avoiding bugs caused by unintended changes to shared data.

1

Create the initial array

Create an array called fruits with these exact values: "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"

C Sharp (C#)

# Create an array called fruits with "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use string[] fruits = { "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry" }; to create the array.

2

Assign the array to a new variable

Create a new array variable called favoriteFruits and assign it the value of fruits

C Sharp (C#)

string[] fruits = { "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry" };
// Assign fruits to favoriteFruits
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use string[] favoriteFruits = fruits; to assign the array reference.

3

Change an element through the new variable

Change the second element (index 1) of favoriteFruits to "Blueberry"

C Sharp (C#)

string[] fruits = { "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry" };
string[] favoriteFruits = fruits;
// Change favoriteFruits[1] to "Blueberry"
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use favoriteFruits[1] = "Blueberry"; to change the second element.

4

Print the original array to see the change

Use a for loop with variable i from 0 to fruits.Length to print each element of the fruits array on its own line

C Sharp (C#)

string[] fruits = { "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry" };
string[] favoriteFruits = fruits;
favoriteFruits[1] = "Blueberry";
// Print each element of fruits using a for loop
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use a for loop from 0 to fruits.Length and print each element with Console.WriteLine(fruits[i]);.