Row Major Order

Row major order is a memory layout scheme for storing multi-dimensional arrays in linear memory, where elements of each row are stored contiguously. It is commonly used in programming languages like C, C++, and Python (NumPy by default) to optimize cache performance for row-wise operations. This ordering contrasts with column major order, which stores elements of each column contiguously.

Also known as: row-major, row-major layout, row-wise order, C order, row contiguous

Why learn Row Major Order?

Developers should understand row major order when working with multi-dimensional arrays in performance-critical applications, such as scientific computing, machine learning, and graphics programming, to optimize memory access patterns. It is essential for writing efficient code in languages like C/C++ or when using libraries like NumPy, as it affects cache locality and can significantly impact execution speed for row-oriented algorithms.

Learning Resources

• docs: Row-major order - Wikipedia
• docs: NumPy: Array Internals - Row-major and column-major
• tutorial: GeeksforGeeks: Row-major and Column-major order
• docs: Stack Overflow: What is row-major order?