How large can arrays be?

Hi,
I`mworking on a cnc application, which involves some c++ programming.
I wonder what would be an upper limit for array size?
If I'd store all individual steps of a steppermotor in an array, it could amount to over 10000.
Is this acceptable?
for example:

Code:

 int x[10000];

Depends entirely on your compiler / OS / hardware
It also depends whether the array is global / static / local

The language itself has no constraints on how big arrays can be.

are you surer about that? I though C specified a portable maximum of 65535, so probably C++ does it too.
Of course a compiler can choose something bigger but not smaller

Wouldn't it depend on whether you used int, float or whichever type of variable?

The language would specify the minimum size, as is the case with switch, no pun intended. The rest is as stated by Salem. (No surprise there.)

Quzah.

LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS - I looked through the language standard a bit, and the only thing I found was that the size-specifier in the brackets must evaluate to a "constant integral value". If I understand that correctly, you should be able to use an unsigned long int, which can hold values up to 4,294,967,295. (4 bytes).

COMPILER LIMITATIONS - The language standard guarantees that a type-long will hold at least 4 bytes, but your compiler may allow larger values!!! (It's generally bad practice to exceed the limits of the language standard, and probably not a good idea to make an array that big anyway.)

HARDWARE/MEMORY LIMITATIONS - You might run out of memory before hitting the above limits.

LANGUAGE LIMITATIONS - I looked through the language standard a bit, and the only thing I found was that the size-specifier in the brackets must evaluate to a "constant integral value". If I understand that correctly, you should be able to use an unsigned long int, which can hold values up to 4,294,967,295. (4 bytes).

I'm afraid you don't understand that correctly. Integral doesn't mean it has to be of type int, integral refers to any number evenly divisible by 1 in general. That's where all the ints get their name. If that was the limit, I'm sure it would've been specified in more direct terms.

No... I think he understands. The unsigned long int is the largest standard integral type, and therefore, you can index anything up to its max value. Of course, as he said, you may not have enough memory (or perhaps patience) to make an array of anything that large.

Thanks for the support Zach!

I'm sure it would've been specified in more direct terms.

Hmmm... Really??? Well, perhaps you could say the standard is "direct", because it IS very specific. (A specification must be specific.) But, it is also very "technical" and it is NOT easy to understand. And, it's not easy to find what you are looking for.

The C++ standard is about 700 pages long, and in places it refers-back to the C standard which is about 500 pages. I have the standards in PDF format which adds to the difficulty of finding what I'm looking for.

The language standard is the most complete, and most accurate C++ publication available, but I still find my other books quite useful. I don't think I could have figured-out how to write "Hello World" by just reading the published standard!

You can download the standards from ANSI for about $20 each. Hard copies of both the C and C++ standards would cost you over $500 !!!!

Different amounts of space are allocated.