Generating a 1-dim array with explanatory arrows and text and large braces

I am still learning tikz and often have to use complicated solutions where I am sure are more simple ones. From my latest tikz files I picked one to ask for tips what I can do better, to learn about features of tikz.

The general layout should stay the same. Slight changes are fine. Suggestions should be about syntax.

I convert this file using

pdflatex 1.tex

and the result is a pdf/png like this

General prologue for all my tikz PNGs

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgf}
\usepackage[active,pdftex,tightpage]{preview}
  \usetikzlibrary{backgrounds}
  \usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing}
  \usetikzlibrary{positioning}
  \usetikzlibrary{shapes}
  \usetikzlibrary{shapes.multipart}
  \usetikzlibrary{trees}
  \usetikzlibrary{arrows}
\definecolor{gpcHintergrund}{RGB}{205,229,244}
\PreviewEnvironment[]{tikzpicture}
\PreviewEnvironment[]{pgfpicture}

\begin{document}

tikz intro

\begin{tikzpicture}[
      background rectangle/.style={fill=gpcHintergrund}, show background rectangle,
      every node/.style={align=center, font=\small, minimum height=1.5em, minimum width=1.0cm,node distance=0cm},
        line/.style={ draw, line width=3pt },
        cell/.style = {rectangle, fill=white, draw, text width=1.0cm,outer sep=0pt},
        capx/.style = {rectangle, draw, text width=1.3cm, color=black!60,outer sep=0pt},
      scale=0.95,
      every node/.append style={transform shape},   % (1) scale here first approx. lines stay.
    %  every node/.append style={draw},
    ]

Center nodes/boxes

\node at (0,0) [cell] (n1) {10};
   \node[right=of n1,cell] (n2) {20};
   \node[right=of n2,cell] (n3) {30};
   \node[right=of n3,cell] (n4) {40};
   \node[right=of n4,cell] (n5) {50};
   \node[right=of n5,cell] (n6) {60};
   \node[right=of n6,cell] (n7) {70};
   \node[right=of n7,cell] (n8) {80};
   \node[right=of n8,cell,fill=black!20,text=black!60] (ne) {end};

Could

So here are some points. Do ask if you need clarification:

• tikz loads pgf, so having \usepackage{pgf} is redundant.

• Personally I'd say only load the libraries you need. You may also use a single \usetikzlibrary, but that is I think just a matter of preference.

• The arrows.meta library has replaced arrows (the latter still works, but is considered deprecated, see the manual)

• Instead of the right=of, you can use the chains library, and place the nodes on a chain, using a loop to reduce the code if desired. There are other methods of achieving the same thing I think, but chains works fine here.

• An alternative of the yshifts and xshifts is to use relative coordinates, e.g. ++(1cm,0) is the point 1cm to the right of the previous active coordinate.

• For the vertical arrows: The coordinate (a-|b) has the y-coordinate of a and the x-coordinate of b. See how it's used in the code.

• Instead of having above=of x,yshift=y, use above=y of x, e.g. above=1cm of n2.west.

• I also added an additional style for the arrows, where the length for shorten ,shorten }.

• I modified \path[draw] to \draw.

-
For e.g. lower_bound(20) you could alternatively make the arrow and node in the same path, i.e.

\draw [myarrow=-1pt] (n2.north west) -- ++(0,0.7cm) node[above] {lower\_bound(20)};

This is merely a matter of preference though. One might find it clearer to separate the nodes from the arrows, as in your original code.

-
The standalone class is very handy for making PDFs consisting of only a tikzpicture.

\documentclass[11pt,border=1pt]{standalone}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{
  backgrounds,
  decorations.pathreplacing,
  chains}
\definecolor{gpcHintergrund}{RGB}{205,229,244}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[
      background rectangle/.style={fill=gpcHintergrund}, show background rectangle,
      every node/.style={align=center, font=\small, minimum height=1.5em, minimum width=1.0cm,node distance=0cm},
        line/.style={ draw, line width=3pt },
        cell/.style = {rectangle, fill=white, draw, text width=1.0cm,outer sep=0pt,on chain}, % added on chain
        capx/.style = {rectangle, draw, text width=1.3cm, color=black!60,outer sep=0pt},
        myarrow/.style={->,shorten <=#1},
      scale=0.95,
      every node/.append style={transform shape},   % (1) scale here first approx. lines stay.
    ]

\begin{scope}[start chain]
\foreach [count=\i] \x in {10,20,...,80}
  \node [cell] (n\i) {\x};

\node[cell,fill=black!20,text=black!60] (ne) {end};
\end{scope}

\node[above=1cm of n2.west] (lb2) {lower\_bound(20)};
  \draw [myarrow=-1pt] (lb2) -- (n2.north west);

\node[above=1cm of n7.west] (ub7) {upper\_bound(60)};
  \draw [myarrow=-1pt] (ub7) -- (n7.north west);

\node[above=0.5cm of n4] (er4) {equal\_range(40)};
  \draw [myarrow=-3pt] (er4.south-|n4.north west) -- (n4.north west);
  \draw [myarrow=-3pt] (er4.south-|n5.north west) -- (n5.north west);

\node[below=1cm of n3.west] (lb25) {lower\_bound(25)};
  \draw [myarrow=-1pt] (lb25) -- (n3.south west);

\node[below=1cm of n7.west] (ub65) {upper\_bound(65)};
  \draw [myarrow=-1pt] (ub65) -- (n7.south west);

\node[below=0.7cm of n4.east] (er45) {equal\_range(45)};
  \draw [myarrow=-3pt] (er45.north) ++(0.45ex,0) coordinate (tmp) -- (tmp|-n5.south west);
  \draw [myarrow=-3pt] (er45.north) -- (n5.south west);

\draw[decoration={brace},decorate,color=black!50]
  (ne.north west) ++(0,1.3cm) -- node[right=6pt] {gefunden} ++(0,-1.1cm);

\draw[decoration={brace,mirror},decorate,color=black!50]
  (ne.south west) ++(0,-1.3cm) -- node[right=6pt] {nicht gefunden} ++(0,1.1cm);

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

StackExchange Code Review Q#145780, answer score: 6