{
  "id": "programming.arrays.arrays-grow",
  "uri": "https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.arrays.arrays-grow",
  "uuid": "c14aea0d-dc29-4cdc-9e08-bde06dfa0014",
  "version": "0.1.1",
  "status": "draft",
  "trust": "low",
  "title": "Arrays grow when you add to them",
  "statement": "An array gets bigger by itself when you store something past its end, so its size does not need to be decided in advance.",
  "kind": "overgeneralization",
  "domain": "programming.arrays",
  "about": [
    {
      "scheme": "Miscon",
      "uri": "https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.arrays.fixed-size"
    }
  ],
  "level_band": [
    "secondary",
    "undergraduate"
  ],
  "locale": "en",
  "evidence_patterns": [
    {
      "item_shape": "predict a write one past the end of an array",
      "signature": "predicts the array now has one more element",
      "example": {
        "item": "int[] a = new int[3];\na[3] = 7;\nSystem.out.println(a.length);",
        "expected": "ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException",
        "response": "4"
      }
    }
  ],
  "discriminators": {
    "vs_slip": "Consistent across items; the learner treats arrays like lists. A slip is a single off-by-one index."
  },
  "relations": {
    "conflicts_with": [
      {
        "external": "https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.arrays.fixed-size",
        "label": "An array has a fixed length set when it is created"
      }
    ],
    "resolved_by": [
      {
        "external": "https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.arrays.fixed-size",
        "label": "An array has a fixed length set when it is created"
      }
    ]
  },
  "alignments": [
    {
      "scheme": "progmiscon",
      "code": "Java/ArraysGrow",
      "uri": "https://progmiscon.org/misconceptions/Java/ArraysGrow",
      "relation": "close-match"
    },
    {
      "scheme": "progmiscon",
      "code": "Java/ArrayListIsArray",
      "uri": "https://progmiscon.org/misconceptions/Java/ArrayListIsArray",
      "relation": "close-match"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "sources": [
      {
        "type": "inventory",
        "citation": "Chiodini, L., Moreno Santos, I., Gallidabino, A., Tafliovich, A., Santos, A. L., & Hauswirth, M. (2021). A curated inventory of programming language misconceptions. In Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE '21), 380-386.",
        "doi": "10.1145/3430665.3456343",
        "url": "https://progmiscon.org/",
        "note": "Inventory consulted for the misconception name and scope only; progmiscon publishes no licence for its text, so Open Misconceptions' statements and examples are written independently."
      },
      {
        "type": "paper",
        "citation": "Kaczmarczyk, L. C., Petrick, E. R., East, J. P., & Herman, G. L. (2010). Identifying student misconceptions of programming. In Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '10), 107-111.",
        "doi": "10.1145/1734263.1734299"
      }
    ],
    "origin": "llm-drafted",
    "notes": "Drafted from the cited literature for the Open Misconceptions seed pack; statement, examples and discriminators are original text. Awaiting maintainer review."
  },
  "history": {
    "changelog": [
      {
        "version": "0.1.1",
        "date": "2026-09-05",
        "change": "Schema 0.2 migration: about/alignments carry a free-string scheme (corestandards.org URLs relabelled CCSS where present); trust computed from reviews[] (none yet, so low); no change to the statement or evidence."
      }
    ]
  },
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0"
}