Compose arrays and structures in declaration order

Do not confuse an array element count with a byte length or native structure padding.

• A fixed-length array encodes its elements in natural order without adding an array count. Each element’s encoding occupies a multiple of four bytes. unsigned int values[3] holding7,8,9 therefore occupies twelve bytes (§4.12).
• A variable-length array begins with a four-byte unsigned ELEMENT count. unsigned int values<4> holding the same three values carries count 3, then7,8,9: sixteen bytes total. The count is 3, not twelve payload bytes, and it cannot exceed the declared element bound (§4.13).
• A structure encodes components in declaration order. For the illustrative struct record { unsigned int id; string label<8>; }, id 7 precedes the encoded string cat. The twelve encoded bytes contain no field-name strings and no extra padding copied from a C compiler’s native layout (§4.14).
• An array’s elements have the same declared type but may have different encoded lengths. A fixed two-element string array containing cat and picnic uses8 bytes for the first counted string and 12 for the second: twenty total, with no array count. Each string has its own byte count and residual padding (§§4.11–4.12).
• The bounded helpers compose already encoded values; they are not a full type checker or an XDR schema compiler. Type aliases and symbolic constants affect descriptions but do not themselves insert bytes. The next chapters distinguish selected union arms, void and optional data (§§4.16–4.19).