I remember wondering this when I was first trying to self learn. It’s because I needed a map (or list + struct or something) and was such a noob I didn’t know what maps were. Whatever material I was learning from wasn’t good enough, especially for winging things. Plus I was trying to learn C++ and maps aren’t quite so built into the language as they are with a better first language like Python.
In lower level languages like C/C++ the reason becomes much more apparent when you learn about memory allocation and management (as a bonus it also really helps to understand how OS’s handle memory). Dynamically declaring variables in a loop would mean you need to allocate a chunk of memory for each variable that’s generated on the fly, most of, if not all of the dynamically declared variables would not even use most of their allocated memory resulting in a ton of extra overhead and wasted space within memory. An array is usually the answer when someone asks how to dynamically define variables. With an array you allocate the space needed in memory and can iterate across it block by block resulting in more control and efficiency within your reserved memory block. Linked lists are also a fun thing to look into when you aren’t sure how big your array needs to be. It’s a hard question to answer in a 100 level class because the answer actually goes pretty deep into low level programming, operating system and hardware principles.
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I distinctly remember asking this question during a 100 level programming class but I just can not remember why I’d ever want to do this?
What problem could I have possibly have been trying to solve where this would seem like the answer.
I remember wondering this when I was first trying to self learn. It’s because I needed a map (or list + struct or something) and was such a noob I didn’t know what maps were. Whatever material I was learning from wasn’t good enough, especially for winging things. Plus I was trying to learn C++ and maps aren’t quite so built into the language as they are with a better first language like Python.
I distinctly remember having the same experience. For some reason I believed dynamic variable naming was a good idea. What was I on??
In lower level languages like C/C++ the reason becomes much more apparent when you learn about memory allocation and management (as a bonus it also really helps to understand how OS’s handle memory). Dynamically declaring variables in a loop would mean you need to allocate a chunk of memory for each variable that’s generated on the fly, most of, if not all of the dynamically declared variables would not even use most of their allocated memory resulting in a ton of extra overhead and wasted space within memory. An array is usually the answer when someone asks how to dynamically define variables. With an array you allocate the space needed in memory and can iterate across it block by block resulting in more control and efficiency within your reserved memory block. Linked lists are also a fun thing to look into when you aren’t sure how big your array needs to be. It’s a hard question to answer in a 100 level class because the answer actually goes pretty deep into low level programming, operating system and hardware principles.