Remove an array element and shift the remaining ones

Solution 1:

You just need to overwrite what you're deleting with the next value in the array, propagate that change, and then keep in mind where the new end is:

int array[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9};

// delete 3 (index 2)
for (int i = 2; i < 8; ++i)
    array[i] = array[i + 1]; // copy next element left

Now your array is {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9}. You cannot delete the extra 9 since this is a statically-sized array, you just have to ignore it. This can be done with std::copy:

std::copy(array + 3, // copy everything starting here
          array + 9, // and ending here, not including it,
          array + 2) // to this destination

In C++11, use can use std::move (the algorithm overload, not the utility overload) instead.

More generally, use std::remove to remove elements matching a value:

// remove *all* 3's, return new ending (remaining elements unspecified)
auto arrayEnd = std::remove(std::begin(array), std::end(array), 3);

Even more generally, there is std::remove_if.

Note that the use of std::vector<int> may be more appropriate here, as its a "true" dynamically-allocated resizing array. (In the sense that asking for its size() reflects removed elements.)

Solution 2:

You can use memmove(), but you have to keep track of the array size yourself:

size_t array_size = 5;
int array[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

// delete element at index 2
memmove(array + 2, array + 3, (array_size - 2 - 1) * sizeof(int));
array_size--;

In C++, though, it would be better to use a std::vector:

std::vector<int> array;
// initialize array...

// delete element at index 2
array.erase(array.begin() + 2);

Solution 3:

std::copy does the job as far as moving elements is concerned:

 #include <algorithm>

 std::copy(array+3, array+5, array+2);

Note that the precondition for copy is that the destination must not be in the source range. It's permissible for the ranges to overlap.

Also, because of the way arrays work in C++, this doesn't "shorten" the array. It just shifts elements around within it. There is no way to change the size of an array, but if you're using a separate integer to track its "size" meaning the size of the part you care about, then you can of course decrement that.

So, the array you'll end up with will be as if it were initialized with:

int array[] = {1,2,4,5,5};