What is indexing?

Indexing is the process of accessing individual elements within a data structure, such as an array, list, or a string, by specifying their position using a unique identifier called an index. In most programming languages, indices start from 0, which means the first element in the array will have an index of 0, the second element will have an index of 1, and so on.

To illustrate indexing, let's consider an array of integers: \[ A = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50] \] In this array, we have 5 elements. Using indexing, we can access each element individually: - The first element, 10, is accessed using the index 0: \(A[0] = 10\) - The second element, 20, is accessed using the index 1: \(A[1] = 20\) - The third element, 30, is accessed using the index 2: \(A[2] = 30\) - The fourth element, 40, is accessed using the index 3: \(A[3] = 40\) - The fifth element, 50, is accessed using the index 4: \(A[4] = 50\)

Indexing also applies to other data structures, such as lists. Let's consider a list of strings: \[ B = \text{["apple", "banana", "cherry", "date", "fig"]} \] In this list, we have 5 elements. Using indexing, we can access each element individually: - The first element, "apple", is accessed using the index 0: \(B[0] = \text{"apple"}\) - The second element, "banana", is accessed using the index 1: \(B[1] = \text{"banana"}\) - The third element, "cherry", is accessed using the index 2: \(B[2] = \text{"cherry"}\) - The fourth element, "date", is accessed using the index 3: \(B[3] = \text{"date"}\) - The fifth element, "fig", is accessed using the index 4: \(B[4] = \text{"fig"}\) In conclusion, indexing allows us to access specific elements within a data structure, such as an array or a list, by referring to their unique position in the structure. Indices usually start from 0 in most programming languages, and allow us to access elements efficiently and in a predictable manner.