title: why does accessing an element in an array take constant time?
body: <p>Lets say I have an array as:</p>
  <p><code>int a[]={4,5,7,10,2,3,6}</code></p>
  <p>when I access an element, such as <code>a[3]</code>, what does actually happen behind the scenes?
  Why do many algorithm books (such as the Cormen book...) say that it takes a constant time?</p>
  <p>(I'm just a noob in low-level programming so I would like to learn more from you guys)</p>