Calculating The Sum Of All Elements In A 2D Array And 2D ArrayList

Sometimes you need to calculate the sum of all elements in a two-dimensional (2D) data structure, when you're working with matrices, tabular data, or any other form of multidimensional data. In this article, we'll explore how to calculate the sum of all elements in a 2D array and a 2D ArrayList.

As you have now understood the concept, first try to solve the problem by yourself before you look into the below solution.

Understanding the Problem

We'll traverse through each element of the 2D structure and accumulate their values to compute the total sum.

Approach

To calculate the sum of all elements in a 2D data structure, whether it's an array or an ArrayList, we'll follow a similar approach:

Initialize a variable sum to store the total sum.
Iterate through each row and column of the 2D data structure.
For each element, add its value to the sum.
After iterating through all elements, return the sum as the result.

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Initialize the Sum Variable

We'll start by initializing a variable sum to store the total sum. We'll set it to 0 initially.

Step 2: Iterate Through the 2D Data Structure

Next, we'll use nested loops to iterate through each row and column of the 2D data structure. Whether it's an array or an ArrayList, we'll use the appropriate methods to determine the number of rows and columns.

Step 3: Return the Sum

After iterating through all elements, we'll have accumulated the sum of all elements in the 2D data structure. We'll return the sum as the result.

Code Implementation

Here's the complete code implementing the above approach for both a 2D array and a 2D ArrayList: