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In terms of implementation, the main difference between a jagged array and a multidimensional array lies in their structure and memory allocation.
A jagged array, also known as an array of arrays, is an array where each element can be another array of different sizes. It is essentially an array of references to other arrays. In memory, a jagged array is implemented as an array of pointers, where each pointer points to a separate memory location for each inner array. This allows for flexibility in terms of the size of each inner array, as they can be dynamically allocated.
On the other hand, a multidimensional array is a rectangular structure where each element is accessed using multiple indices. It is implemented as a single block of memory, with elements arranged in a contiguous manner. The memory allocation for a multidimensional array is done in a single step, and the size of each dimension is fixed during initialization. This means that all elements in a multidimensional array have the same size, and the memory is allocated accordingly.
In summary, the key difference between a jagged array and a multidimensional array in terms of implementation is that a jagged array is an array of arrays with dynamic memory allocation for each inner array, while a multidimensional array is a single block of memory with fixed dimensions and uniform element size.