Which is better? array, ArrayList or List<T> (in terms of performance and speed)

arraylist, arrays, c#, list, performance

Solution

`List<T>` should generally be preferred over `ArrayList`

- faster for value types as it avoids boxing.

- strongly typed elements

If you want lists you expose to callers to be immutable, this is supported by both `List<T>` and `ArrayList`:

List<T>.AsReadOnly()
ArrayList.ReadOnly(ArrayList list);

Your question asks about choosing between `ArrayList` and `List<T>`, but your example shows an array, which is neither.

Problem

I require a fast speed in processing my page. The count of the values to be added will be dynamic. Which one of the above is preferred? Support with a valid reason. Edit: For eg: ``` string str = "a,b,c"; //Count of the number of elements in str is not fixed string[] arr = str.Split(','); ``` or, ``` ArrayList al = new ArrayList(); al.Add(str.Split(',')); ```

Original source

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