Calculation of address of element of 1-

D, 2-D, and 3-D using row-major and

column-major order

1. Row Major ordering

In row major ordering, all the rows of the 2D array are stored into the memory
contiguously. Considering the array shown in the above image, its memory allocation
according to row major order is shown as follows.

first, the 1st row of the array is stored into the memory completely, then the 2nd row of
the array is stored into the memory completely and so on till the last row.

2. Column Major ordering

According to the column major ordering, all the columns of the 2D array are stored
into the memory contiguously. The memory allocation of the array which is shown in
in the above image is given as follows.
first, the 1st column of the array is stored into the memory completely, then the 2nd row
of the array is stored into the memory completely and so on till the last column of the
array.

Calculating the Address



Calculating the address of any element In the 1-D
array:
A 1-dimensional array (or single-dimension array) is a type of linear array.
Accessing its elements involves a single subscript that can either represent a row
or column index.
Example:
 1-D array

To find the address of an element in an array the following formula is used-

Address of A[I] = B + W * (I – LB)
I = Subset of element whose address to be found,
B = Base address,
W = Storage size of one element store in any array(in byte),
LB = Lower Limit/Lower Bound of subscript(If not specified assume zero).
Example: Given the base address of an array A[1300 ………… 1900] as 1020 and
the size of each element is 2 bytes in the memory, find the address of A[1700].
Solution:
Given:
Base address B = 1020
Lower Limit/Lower Bound of subscript LB = 1300
Storage size of one element store in any array W = 2 Byte
Subset of element whose address to be found I = 1700
Formula used:
Address of A[I] = B + W * (I – LB)
Solution:
Address of A[1700] = 1020 + 2 * (1700 – 1300)
= 1020 + 2 * (400)
= 1020 + 800
Address of A[1700] = 1820

Calculate the address of any element in the 2-D array:

The 2-dimensional array can be defined as an array of arrays. The 2-Dimensional
arrays are organized as matrices which can be represented as the collection of
rows and columns as array[M][N] where M is the number of rows and N is the
number of columns.
Example:
 2-D array

To find the address of any element in a 2-Dimensional array there are the
following two ways-
1. Row Major Order
2. Column Major Order
1. Row Major Order:
Row major ordering assigns successive elements, moving across the rows and
then down the next row, to successive memory locations. In simple language, the
elements of an array are stored in a Row-Wise fashion.
To find the address of the element using row-major order uses the following
formula:
Address of A[I][J] = B + W * ((I – LR) * N + (J – LC))
I = Row Subset of an element whose address to be found,
J = Column Subset of an element whose address to be found,
B = Base address,
W = Storage size of one element store in an array(in byte),
LR = Lower Limit of row/start row index of the matrix(If not given assume it as
zero),
LC = Lower Limit of column/start column index of the matrix(If not given assume it
as zero),
N = Number of column given in the matrix.
Example: Given an array, arr[1………10][1………15] with base value 100 and the
size of each element is 1 Byte in memory. Find the address of arr[8][6] with the
help of row-major order.
Solution:
Given:
Base address B = 100
Storage size of one element store in any array W = 1 Bytes
Row Subset of an element whose address to be found I = 8
Column Subset of an element whose address to be found J = 6
Lower Limit of row/start row index of matrix LR = 1
Lower Limit of column/start column index of matrix = 1
Number of column given in the matrix N = Upper Bound – Lower Bound + 1
= 15 – 1 + 1
= 15
Formula:
Address of A[I][J] = B + W * ((I – LR) * N + (J – LC))
Solution:
Address of A[8][6] = 100 + 1 * ((8 – 1) * 15 + (6 – 1))
= 100 + 1 * ((7) * 15 + (5))
= 100 + 1 * (110)
Address of A[I][J] = 210
2. Column Major Order:
If elements of an array are stored in a column-major fashion means moving
across the column and then to the next column then it’s in column-major
order. To find the address of the element using column-major order use the
following formula:
Address of A[I][J] = B + W * ((J – LC) * M + (I – LR))
I = Row Subset of an element whose address to be found,
J = Column Subset of an element whose address to be found,
B = Base address,
W = Storage size of one element store in any array(in byte),
LR = Lower Limit of row/start row index of matrix(If not given assume it as zero),
LC = Lower Limit of column/start column index of matrix(If not given assume it as
zero),
M = Number of rows given in the matrix.
Example: Given an array arr[1………10][1………15] with a base value of 100 and
the size of each element is 1 Byte in memory find the address of arr[8][6] with
the help of column-major order.
Solution:
Given:
Base address B = 100
Storage size of one element store in any array W = 1 Bytes
Row Subset of an element whose address to be found I = 8
Column Subset of an element whose address to be found J = 6
Lower Limit of row/start row index of matrix LR = 1
Lower Limit of column/start column index of matrix = 1
Number of Rows given in the matrix M = Upper Bound – Lower Bound + 1
= 10 – 1 + 1
= 10
Formula: used
Address of A[I][J] = B + W * ((J – LC) * M + (I – LR))
Address of A[8][6] = 100 + 1 * ((6 – 1) * 10 + (8 – 1))
 = 100 + 1 * ((5) * 10 + (7))
= 100 + 1 * (57)
Address of A[I][J] = 157
From the above examples, it can be observed that for the same position two
different address locations are obtained that’s because in row-major order
movement is done across the rows and then down to the next row, and in
column-major order, first move down to the first column and then next column.
So both the answers are right.
So it’s all based on the position of the element whose address is to be found for
some cases the same answers is also obtained with row-major order and column-
major order and for some cases, different answers are obtained.
Calculate the address of any element in the 3-D Array:
A 3-Dimensional array is a collection of 2-Dimensional arrays. It is specified by
using three subscripts:
1. Block size
2. Row size
3. Column size
More dimensions in an array mean more data can be stored in that array.
Example:

3-D array

To find the address of any element in 3-Dimensional arrays there are the
following two ways-
 Row Major Order
 Column Major Order
1. Row Major Order:
To find the address of the element using row-major order, use the following
formula:
Address of A[i][j][k] = B + W *(M * N * (i-x) + N *(j-y) + (k-z))
Here:
B = Base Address (start address)
W = Weight (storage size of one element stored in the array)
M = Row (total number of rows)
N = Column (total number of columns)
P = Width (total number of cells depth-wise)
x = Lower Bound of Row
y = Lower Bound of Column
z = Lower Bound of Width
Example: Given an array, arr[1:9, -4:1, 5:10] with a base value of 400 and the
size of each element is 2 Bytes in memory find the address of element arr[5][-
1][8] with the help of row-major order?
Solution:
Given:
Block Subset of an element whose address to be found I = 5
Row Subset of an element whose address to be found J = -1
Column Subset of an element whose address to be found K = 8
Base address B = 400
Storage size of one element store in any array(in Byte) W = 2
Lower Limit of blocks in matrix x = 1
Lower Limit of row/start row index of matrix y = -4
Lower Limit of column/start column index of matrix z = 5
M(row) = Upper Bound – Lower Bound + 1 = 1 – (-4) + 1 = 6
N(Column)= Upper Bound – Lower Bound + 1 = 10 – 5 + 1 = 6

Formula used:
Address of[I][J][K] =B + W (M * N(i-x) + N *(j-y) + (k-z))
Solution:
Address of arr[5][-1][8] = 400 + 2 * {[6 * 6 * (5 – 1)] + 6 * [(-1 + 4)]} + [8 – 5]
= 400 + 2 * (6*6*4)+(6*3)+3
= 400 + 2 * (165)
= 730
2. Column Major Order:
To find the address of the element using column-major order, use the following
formula:1
Address of A[i][j][k]= B + W(M * N(i – x) + M *(k – z) + (j – y))
Here:
B = Base Address (start address)
W = Weight (storage size of one element stored in the array)
M = Row (total number of rows)
N = Column (total number of columns)
P = Width (total number of cells depth-wise)
x = Lower Bound of block (first subscipt)
y = Lower Bound of Row
z = Lower Bound of Column
Example: Given an array arr[1:8, -5:5, -10:5] with a base value of 400 and the
size of each element is 4 Bytes in memory find the address of
element arr[3][3][3] with the help of column-major order?
Solution:
Given:
Row Subset of an element whose address to be found I = 3
Column Subset of an element whose address to be found J = 3
Block Subset of an element whose address to be found K = 3
Base address B = 400
Storage size of one element store in any array(in Byte) W = 4
Lower Limit of blocks in matrix x = 1
Lower Limit of row/start row index of matrix y = -5
Lower Limit of column/start column index of matrix z = -10
M (row)= Upper Bound – Lower Bound + 1 = 5 +5 + 1 = 11
N (column)= Upper Bound – Lower Bound + 1 = 5 + 10 + 1 = 16
Formula used:
Address of[i][j][k] = B + W(M * N(i – x) + M * (j-y) + (k – z))
Solution:
Address of arr[3][3][3] = 400 + 4 * ((11*16*(3-1)+11*(3-(-5)+(3-(-10)))
= 400 + 4 * ((176*2 + 11*8 + 13)
= 400 + 4 * (453)
= 400 + 1812
= 2212

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