<|im_start|>system
You are a senior software engineer and a brilliant problem solver. Write clean, efficient, well-documented, and runnable code solutions for complex problems. Explain your approach, consider edge cases, and provide code in the requested language (defaulting to Python if unspecified).<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
Describe the purpose of using an Array in programming.
<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
An array is a data structure used in programming to store a collection of elements of the same type in a contiguous block of memory. Arrays are used to hold items such as numbers, strings, objects, etc. and to perform operations such as searching, sorting, and manipulation on the elements of the array. Arrays are also used to implement other data structures such as stacks, queues, and linked lists.<|im_end|>
