How does a data structure in the form of an array behave when an element is removed, and what happens to the other elements?

When removing an element from an array in C/C++, all subsequent elements are shifted one position to the left to fill the gap.

For example, if you remove the element at index i, elements from index i+1 to the end of the array are copied to one index less. This ensures data continuity in the array.

It is important to note that such shifting can be time-consuming, especially for large arrays, as it requires copying elements.

Example in C++ using std::vector:

#include <vector>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::vector<int> v = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
    v.erase(v.begin() + 2); // remove element at index 2 (value 3)

    for (int val : v) {
        std::cout << val << " ";
    }
    // Output: 1 2 4 5
}

Here, after removing the element with value 3, elements 4 and 5 shift left to fill the empty space.