Arrays are a data structure that holds a collection of items. Items can be of the same type or multiple types. We can think of arrays as a variable that can hold more than one value. Consider the example below:

$my_arr = 25, "Codecademy", 1, $False

my_arr is an array that holds the integer 25, the string Codecademy, the integer 1, and the boolean False – in that order. Referencing the variable will output each item one at a time.

PS > $my_arr
25
Codecademy
1
False

Separating items by commas is the simplest way to create an array, but it’s not the only way. Another way is to use the array subexpression operator @( ). Anything placed within the parentheses is treated as an item of the array. It can be anything from a single element to output from commands. The following examples best illustrate its usage.

$arr_1 = @($True, 5, (Get-Date).DateTime) # 3 elements
$arr_2 = @( )                             # Empty Array
$arr_3 = @(                               # Multi-line Array
    "Uno"
    "Dos"
    "Tres"
) 

In the next exercise, we will go over different ways to access items in an array.