Use
DIM SHARED sArr(100000) as string
or a variable-length array.
DIM start AS DOUBLE = timer
DIM sArr() as string
REDIM sArr(100000) as string
DIM s AS STRING : s = "test string"
FOR i as long = 1 TO 100000
sArr(i) = s
NEXT
DIM endx AS DOUBLE = timer
print endx - start
Each language does things in a different way. Jumping from one to another everyday it's the best way of never being proficient with any of them.