When should I use a List vs a LinkedList

Question

When is it better to use a List vs a LinkedList?

Answer 1

Edit

Please read the comments to this answer. People claim I did not do proper tests. I agree this should not be an accepted answer. As I was learning I did some tests and felt like sharing them.

Original answer...

I found interesting results:

// Temporary class to show the example
class Temp
{
    public decimal A, B, C, D;

    public Temp(decimal a, decimal b, decimal c, decimal d)
    {
        A = a;            B = b;            C = c;            D = d;
    }
}

Linked list (3.9 seconds)

        LinkedList list = new LinkedList();

        for (var i = 0; i < 12345678; i++)
        {
            var a = new Temp(i, i, i, i);
            list.AddLast(a);
        }

        decimal sum = 0;
        foreach (var item in list)
            sum += item.A;

List (2.4 seconds)

        List list = new List(); // 2.4 seconds

        for (var i = 0; i < 12345678; i++)
        {
            var a = new Temp(i, i, i, i);
            list.Add(a);
        }

        decimal sum = 0;
        foreach (var item in list)
            sum += item.A;

Even if you only access data essentially it is much slower!! I say never use a linkedList.

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Here is another comparison performing a lot of inserts (we plan on inserting an item at the middle of the list)

Linked List (51 seconds)

        LinkedList list = new LinkedList();

        for (var i = 0; i < 123456; i++)
        {
            var a = new Temp(i, i, i, i);

            list.AddLast(a);
            var curNode = list.First;

            for (var k = 0; k < i/2; k++) // In order to insert a node at the middle of the list we need to find it
                curNode = curNode.Next;

            list.AddAfter(curNode, a); // Insert it after
        }

        decimal sum = 0;
        foreach (var item in list)
            sum += item.A;

List (7.26 seconds)

        List list = new List();

        for (var i = 0; i < 123456; i++)
        {
            var a = new Temp(i, i, i, i);

            list.Insert(i / 2, a);
        }

        decimal sum = 0;
        foreach (var item in list)
            sum += item.A;

Linked List having reference of location where to insert (.04 seconds)

        list.AddLast(new Temp(1,1,1,1));
        var referenceNode = list.First;

        for (var i = 0; i < 123456; i++)
        {
            var a = new Temp(i, i, i, i);

            list.AddLast(a);
            list.AddBefore(referenceNode, a);
        }

        decimal sum = 0;
        foreach (var item in list)
            sum += item.A;

So only if you plan on inserting several items and you also somewhere have the reference of where you plan to insert the item then use a linked list. Just because you have to insert a lot of items it does not make it faster because searching the location where you will like to insert it takes time.