I want to have a 2 dimentional array

Question

i need a 2 d array or list that i can change size during runtime or at least be able to grow larger but i have no idea exactly what im loking for or how to use it
im going to make a program that each cell is either dead or alive and has health a algorthim controls weather or not more are born or die so if i start with 10 and more are born my array cant be set in stone from the init method
i know i could just make a array of 1000 say but what if i let it run for a few days and it hits 1001 eventually its going to be a ai learning program that each generation of cells gets smarter but
i dont want to get a exeption if it goes over a set number of elements in a regular array

Answer 1

ok this works but when i put it into a html page it cant be instantantiated
so my question is if i just want to make a dynamic 2 d array can i do something like this
int myarray[][];
int temparray[][];
myarray = new int[currentsize_x][currentsize_y];
then later copy all the contents with a pair of for loops into
temparray = new int[i][j];
then make the original array biger and later copy the values back into
myarray = new int[the_new_size][the_new_size];
the use a for loop add in the old values
myarray = new int[i][j];
the code below cant be used because ie needs the html converter and i dont want to use it at this pointin time
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
import java.util.*;
public class test_arraylist2 extends Applet
int i = 10 ;
int j = 1 ;
int anumber = 5 ;
int dummyvar = 1 ;
ArrayList myarrayB = new ArrayList();
public void init(){    
for(int i = 0; i < 20; i++){
myarrayB.add(new ArrayList()); // add will automatically increment myarrayB
for(int j = 0; j < 20; j++) {    
((ArrayList)myarrayB.get(10)).add( new Integer(anumber)); //auto inc the sublist
     public void paint(Graphics g){ 
     i = 1;
     g.drawString("start of applet) " , 10, 20);
g.setColor(Color.blue);
ArrayList subList = (ArrayList)myarrayB.get(10);
Integer elt = (Integer) subList.get(i); //then get that element out of the sublist
int dummyvar = elt.intValue(); //then get the primitive value out of the element
     g.drawString("output1 === "+ dummyvar, 35, 25*(1+i)+40);
     repaint();