When should I use a List vs a LinkedList

Question

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

Answer 1

Essentially, a List<> in .NET is a wrapper over an array. A LinkedList<> is a linked list. So the question comes down to, what is the difference between an array and a linked list, and when should an array be used instead of a linked list. Probably the two most important factors in your decision of which to use would come down to:

• Linked lists have much better insertion/removal performance, so long as the insertions/removals are not on the last element in the collection. This is because an array must shift all remaining elements that come after the insertion/removal point. If the insertion/removal is at the tail end of the list however, this shift is not needed (although the array may need to be resized, if its capacity is exceeded).
• Arrays have much better accessing capabilities. Arrays can be indexed into directly (in constant time). Linked lists must be traversed (linear time).