Oracle PL/SQL - How to create a simple array variable?

You can use VARRAY for a fixed-size array:

declare
   type array_t is varray(3) of varchar2(10);
   array array_t := array_t('Matt', 'Joanne', 'Robert');
begin
   for i in 1..array.count loop
       dbms_output.put_line(array(i));
   end loop;
end;

Or TABLE for an unbounded array:

...
   type array_t is table of varchar2(10);
...

The word "table" here has nothing to do with database tables, confusingly. Both methods create in-memory arrays.

With either of these you need to both initialise and extend the collection before adding elements:

declare
   type array_t is varray(3) of varchar2(10);
   array array_t := array_t(); -- Initialise it
begin
   for i in 1..3 loop
      array.extend(); -- Extend it
      array(i) := 'x';
   end loop;
end;

The first index is 1 not 0.

You could just declare a DBMS_SQL.VARCHAR2_TABLE to hold an in-memory variable length array indexed by a BINARY_INTEGER:

DECLARE
   name_array dbms_sql.varchar2_table;
BEGIN
   name_array(1) := 'Tim';
   name_array(2) := 'Daisy';
   name_array(3) := 'Mike';
   name_array(4) := 'Marsha';
   --
   FOR i IN name_array.FIRST .. name_array.LAST
   LOOP
      -- Do something
   END LOOP;
END;

You could use an associative array (used to be called PL/SQL tables) as they are an in-memory array.

DECLARE
   TYPE employee_arraytype IS TABLE OF employee%ROWTYPE
        INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
   employee_array employee_arraytype;
BEGIN
   SELECT *
     BULK COLLECT INTO employee_array
     FROM employee
    WHERE department = 10;
   --
   FOR i IN employee_array.FIRST .. employee_array.LAST
   LOOP
      -- Do something
   END LOOP;
END;

The associative array can hold any make up of record types.

Hope it helps, Ollie.