Java, loop through 2d array in any direction

What if you made a new array of the same length, and copied the elements into there? Then you would only have to iterate over your array once, making it O(n):

//This would be your array
int[] things = new int[]{1,23,4,54,234,54,1};

//Create a new array that is the same length
int[] shiftedThings = new int[things.length];

//These are for our loop
int start;
int end;

//If its an up shift
if(shiftUp){
    //Copy the last element into the first for an up shift
    shiftedThings[0] = things[things.length-1];

    //Start from the 2nd element, since we've already copied over the first
    start = 1;
    end = shiftedThings.length;
}   
else{
     //Copy the first element to the end for a down shift
     shiftedThings[shiftedThings.length-1] = things[0];

     start = 0;

     //End at 1 element before the end, since we've already copied over the last element
     end = shiftedThings.length-1;
} 

while(start < end){
    if(shiftUp)
        shiftedThings[index] = things[index-1];
    else
        shiftedThings[index] = things[index+1];
    start++;
}

//shiftedElements is now ready to be printed or returned or ...

There's probably a more elegant solution than this.

Edit: I didn't realize that you were talking about a 2D array until you edited your question. You could adapt this for your needs.

While it is technically possible to cover all these shifting operations with the same methods, it's probably not as easy to understand (and not as efficient) as creating a dedicated method for each direction.

On the one hand, this is humbling and shattering for a real programmer, but on the other hand ... hey, you can be sure that there will never-ever be more than these four directions.

Or... well, diagonals, maybe? ;-)

public class ArrayShiftTest
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        int array[][] = new int[][]
        {
            { 1, 0, 2, 0 },
            { 0, 3, 0, 1 },
            { 1, 0, 6, 9 },
            { 1, 0, 0, 0 },
        };

        System.out.println("Original");
        print(array);

        System.out.println("Left");
        int arrayL[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayL,  0, -1);
        print(arrayL);

        System.out.println("Right");
        int arrayR[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayR,  0,  1);
        print(arrayR);

        System.out.println("Up");
        int arrayU[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayU, -1,  0);
        print(arrayU);

        System.out.println("Down");
        int arrayD[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayD,  1,  0);
        print(arrayD);

        // Bonus :-) :

        System.out.println("Left Up");
        int arrayLU[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayLU,  -1, -1);
        print(arrayLU);

        System.out.println("Right Up");
        int arrayRU[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayRU,  -1,  1);
        print(arrayRU);

        System.out.println("Left Down");
        int arrayLD[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayLD,   1, -1);
        print(arrayLD);

        System.out.println("Right Down");
        int arrayRD[][] = clone(array);
        shift(arrayRD,   1,  1);
        print(arrayRD);

    }

    private static void shift(int array[][], int dr, int dc)
    {
        boolean shifted = true;
        while (shifted)
        {
            shifted = false;
            for (int r=0; r<array.length; r++)
            {
                for (int c=0; c<array[r].length; c++)
                {
                    if (array[r][c] != 0)
                    {
                        shifted |= shift(array, r, c, dr, dc);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    private static boolean shift(int[][] array, int r, int c, int dr, int dc)
    {
        int value = array[r][c];
        array[r][c] = 0;
        int cr = r;
        int cc = c;
        while (isValid(array, cr, cc))
        {
            int tr = cr + dr;
            int tc = cc + dc;
            if (!isValid(array, tr, tc) || array[tr][tc] != 0)
            {
                break;
            }
            cr = tr;
            cc = tc;
        }
        array[cr][cc] = value;
        return cr != r || cc != c;
    }

    private static boolean isValid(int array[][], int r, int c)
    {
        return r>=0 && r<array.length && c>=0 && c<array[r].length;
    }

    private static int[][] clone(int array[][])
    {
        int result[][] = array.clone();
        for (int r=0; r<array.length; r++)
        {
            result[r] = array[r].clone();
        }
        return result;
    }

    private static void print(int array[][])
    {
        for (int r=0; r<array.length; r++)
        {
            for (int c=0; c<array[r].length; c++)
            {
                System.out.printf("%3d", array[r][c]);
            }
            System.out.println("");
        }
    }
}