Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “What does "contiguous placement of elements" in memory mean?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)**Contiguous placement of elements** means that all array elements are stored in memory one after another, with no gaps, their cells go one after another in sequential order. **Key point:** thanks to contiguity, the computer can instantly calculate the address of any element, which makes index access very fast, O(1).Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)Image**Contiguous placement of elements** means that **all array elements are stored in memory one after another, with no gaps** - that is, their cells go *one after another* in sequential order. --- ### **1. What this looks like** Picture memory as a long tape of addresses: ```javascript Addresses: 1000 1004 1008 1012 1016 Elements: [10] [20] [30] [40] [50] ``` If the size of one element is 4 bytes, then: - the first element (`A[0]`) is at address 1000, - the second (`A[1]`) is at 1004, - the third (`A[2]`) is at 1008, and so on. There are no "empty spots" between them, this is what **contiguity** means. --- ### **2. Why this matters** - The computer can **instantly calculate the address of any element**: `address = start + (index × element size)`. - This makes index access **very fast, O(1)**. - It's convenient for the processor to load such data into cache, because it "sits next to itself". --- ### **3. How it differs from lists** In linked lists, elements sit **in different places in memory** and are connected by references. So to reach the needed one, you have to go through all the previous ones. ```javascript [10|→] [20|→] [30|→] [40|None] (addresses can be random) ``` --- ### **4. Downside of contiguous placement** For an array to grow, a large contiguous block of memory must be allocated in advance. If there is no room next to it, a new block has to be created and the whole array copied over. --- **Summary:** > "Contiguous placement" means all array elements sit one after another in memory, with no gaps. > Thanks to this, an array provides instant index access and high performance.For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.