GArray

GArray is a dynamic array data structure provided by GLib, the foundational utility library used by GNOME and GTK. It stores elements contiguously in memory and uses a fixed element size defined at creation time, allowing it to hold any plain-old-data type such as integers or structs. The API is designed to be generic, enabling easy storage of various element types without rewriting code for each type.

Creation and memory management: A GArray is created with g_array_new, which takes the size of each element and flags related to initialization. The array grows automatically as elements are appended or inserted. Memory management is handled by GLib; the caller can free the array with g_array_free, and choose whether to also free the underlying storage or just obtain a pointer to the data by passing the appropriate flag.

Operations and access: Common operations include appending values (g_array_append_val, g_array_append_vals), inserting and removing elements (g_array_insert_val, g_array_remove_index), and resizing (g_array_set_size). Elements are accessed via the g_array_index macro, e.g., g_array_index(array, int, i). Sorting support is provided by g_array_sort and g_array_sort_with_data, using a comparator function.

Variants and usage: GLib also provides GPtrArray for arrays of pointers and GByteArray for raw bytes. GArray is suitable for building dynamic lists where random access and compact storage are important, and it is widely used within GLib-based projects. When the stored data is non-POD or requires complex ownership semantics, developers may use GPtrArray or other container patterns.