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Signed Byte Array with Example in C#

C# Signed Byte Array: Here, we are going to learn about the signed byte array in C# - how to declare, how to initialize and how to access elements? By IncludeHelp Last updated : April 11, 2023

Signed Byte Array in C#

In C#.Net, we can create a signed byte array by using sbyte, sbyte is used to store both of the values (negative and positive) between the range of -128 to 127 (Signed 8 bits integer).

It occupies 1-byte memory for each element, if array size is 10, it will take 10 bytes memory.

Declaration of a signed byte[]

A signed byte[] can be declared using the following ways,

1. Array declaration with initialization

   Syntax:
   sbyte[] array_name = { byte1, byte2, byte2, ...};
   
   Example:
   sbyte[] arr1 = { -128, -100, 0, 100, 127};
   

2. Array declaration with fixed number of elements

   Syntax:
   sbyte[] array_name = new sbyte[value];
   
   Example:
   sbyte[] arr2 = new sbyte[5];
   

3. Array declaration with user input

   Syntax:
   sbyte[] array_name = new sbyte[variable];
   
   Example:
   sbyte[] arr3 = new sbyte[n];
   

Accessing signed byte array's elements

Like other types of arrays – we can access the array elements with its index, index starts with 0 and ends with n-1. Here, n is the total number of array elements.

C# Example of Signed Byte Array

Consider the given example – Here, we are declaring 3 arrays with 3 different approaches, initializing the arrays either with default values or user input. To print the array elements, we are using foreach loop, we can also use for or while loop with loop counter to access the array elements.

using System;

namespace Test {
  class Program {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
      //declaring signed byte[] & initializing it 
      //with 5 elements
      sbyte[] arr1 = {-128,-100,0,100,127};

      //printing all bytes of arr1
      Console.WriteLine("arr1 items...");
      foreach(sbyte item in arr1) {
        Console.WriteLine(item);
      }

      Console.WriteLine(); //to print a line 

      //declaring array for 5 elements 
      //reading values and assigning to array 
      sbyte[] arr2 = new sbyte[5];
      
      //reading values from the user
      for (int loop = 0; loop < 5; loop++) {
        Console.Write("Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): ");
        arr2[loop] = sbyte.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
      }
      
      //printing all bytes of arr2
      Console.WriteLine("arr2 items...");
      foreach(sbyte item in arr2) {
        Console.WriteLine(item);
      }

      Console.WriteLine(); //to print a line 

      //read value of "n" and declare array for "n" elements
      //reading values and assigning to array 
      Console.Write("Enter length of the array: ");
      int n = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
      
      //declaring array for n elements
      sbyte[] arr3 = new sbyte[n];
      
      //reading values from the user
      for (int loop = 0; loop < n; loop++) {
        Console.Write("Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): ");
        arr3[loop] = sbyte.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
      }
      
      //printing all bytes of arr3
      Console.WriteLine("arr3 items...");
      foreach(sbyte item in arr3) {
        Console.WriteLine(item);
      }

      //hit ENTER to exit
      Console.ReadLine();
    }
  }
}

Output

arr1 items...
-128
-100
0
100
127

Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): 127
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): 100
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): -100
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): 0
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): 20
arr2 items...
127
100
-100
0
20

Enter length of the array: 3
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): -128
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): 0
Enter a byte (b/w -128 to 127): 127
arr3 items...
-128
0
127

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