What is zero-indexing?

Zero-indexing refers to the convention in programming where the first element of a list, array, or string is accessed using an index of 0 rather than 1. This means that if you have a list with five elements, the indices used to access these elements would be 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4.

This indexing system is prevalent in many programming languages, such as Python, C, and Java, and stems from how memory addresses are calculated, making it more efficient for certain operations. By starting at 0, the position of an element can be easily calculated as the offset from the start of the data structure.

Understanding zero-indexing is crucial for students learning to manipulate data structures effectively, as it impacts how loops and array manipulations are executed. Knowing that the first element is referred to by index 0 helps avoid off-by-one errors that can lead to bugs in code, especially when iterating through a collection.