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

Question

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.<

Answer 1

Array for "immutable" collections, List<T> for mutable collections.

• "Immutable" collection - changed on creation only, and many reading later.
• Mutable collection - many changes all time

Performance stats (Array vs List vs ReadonlyCollection):

       Array                List        ReadOnlyCollection         Penalties      Method
00:00:01.3932446    00:00:01.6677450    00:00:06.2444633    1 vs  1,2  vs  4,5   Generate
00:00:00.1856069    00:00:01.0291365    00:00:02.0674881    1 vs  5,5  vs 11,1   Sum
00:00:00.4350745    00:00:00.9422126    00:00:04.5994937    1 vs  2,2  vs 10,6   BlockCopy
00:00:00.2029309    00:00:00.4272936    00:00:02.2941122    1 vs  2,1  vs 11,3   Sort

Source code:

interface IMethods<T>
{
  T Generate(int size, Func<int, int> generator);
   int Sum(T items);
   T BlockCopy(T items);
   T Sort(T items);
}

class ArrayMethods:IMethods<int[]>
{
  public int[] Generate(int size, Func<int, int> generator)
  {
    var items = new int[size];
    for (var i = 0; i < items.Length; ++i)
      items[i] = generator(i);
    return items;
  }
  public int Sum(int[] items)
  {
    int sum = 0;
    foreach (var item in items)
      sum += item;
    return sum;
  }
  public int[] BlockCopy(int[] items)
  {
    var res = new int[items.Length / 2];
    Buffer.BlockCopy(items, items.Length / 4 * sizeof(int), res, 0, res.Length * sizeof(int));
    return res;
  }
  public int[] Sort(int[] items)
  {
    var res = new int[items.Length];
    Buffer.BlockCopy(items, 0, res, 0, items.Length * sizeof(int));
    return res;
  }
}
class ListMethods : IMethods<List<int>>
{
  public List<int> Generate(int size, Func<int, int> generator)
  {
    var items = new List<int>(size);
    for (var i = 0; i < size; ++i)
      items.Add(generator(i));
    return items;
  }
  public int Sum(List<int> items)
  {
    int sum = 0;
    foreach (var item in items)
      sum += item;
    return sum;
  }
  public List<int> BlockCopy(List<int> items)
  {
    var count = items.Count / 2;
    var res = new List<int>(count);
    var start = items.Count / 4;
    for (var i = 0; i < count; ++i)
      res.Add(items[start + i]);
    return res;
  }
  public List<int> Sort(List<int> items)
  {
    var res = new List<int>(items);
    res.Sort();
    return res;
  }
}
class ReadOnlyCollectionMethods:IMethods<ReadOnlyCollection<int>>
{
  public ReadOnlyCollection<int> Generate(int size, Func<int, int> generator)
  {
    return new ReadOnlyCollection<int>(Enumerable.Range(0, size).Select(generator).ToList());
  }

  public int Sum(ReadOnlyCollection<int> items)
  {
    int sum = 0;
    foreach (var item in items)
      sum += item;
    return sum;
  }


  public ReadOnlyCollection<int> BlockCopy(ReadOnlyCollection<int> items)
  {
    return new ReadOnlyCollection<int>(items.Skip(items.Count / 4).Take(items.Count / 2).ToArray());
  }
  public ReadOnlyCollection<int> Sort(ReadOnlyCollection<int> items)
  {
    return new ReadOnlyCollection<int>(items.OrderBy(s => s).ToList());
  }
}

static class Program
{
  static Tuple<string, TimeSpan>[] CheckPerformance<T>(IMethods<T> methods) where T:class
  {
    var stats = new List<Tuple<string, TimeSpan>>();

    T source = null;
    foreach (var info in new[] 
      { 
        new {Name = "Generate", Method = new Func<T, T>(items => methods.Generate(10000000, i => i % 2 == 0 ? -i : i))}, 
        new {Name = "Sum", Method =  new Func<T, T>(items => {Console.WriteLine(methods.Sum(items));return items;})}, 
        new {Name = "BlockCopy", Method = new Func<T, T>(items => methods.BlockCopy(items))}, 
        new {Name = "Sort", Method = new Func<T, T>(items => methods.BlockCopy(items))}, 
        new {Name = "Sum", Method =  new Func<T, T>(items => {Console.WriteLine(methods.Sum(items));return items;})}, 
      }
     )
    {
      int count = 10;
      var stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
      stopwatch.Start();
      T res = null;
      for (var i = 0; i < count; ++i)
        res = info.Method(source);
      stopwatch.Stop();
      source = res;
      stats.Add(new Tuple<string, TimeSpan>(info.Name, stopwatch.Elapsed));
    }
    return stats.ToArray();
  }

  static void Main()
  {
    var arrayStats = CheckPerformance(new ArrayMethods());
    var listStats = CheckPerformance(new ListMethods());
    var rcStats = CheckPerformance(new ReadOnlyCollectionMethods());

    Console.WriteLine("       Array                List        ReadOnlyCollection         Penalties      Method");
    for(var i = 0; i < arrayStats.Length; ++i)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}    {1}    {2}    1 vs {3,4:f1}  vs {4,4:f1}   {5}", arrayStats[i].Item2, listStats[i].Item2, rcStats[i].Item2, 
        listStats[i].Item2.TotalSeconds / arrayStats[i].Item2.TotalSeconds,
        rcStats[i].Item2.TotalSeconds / arrayStats[i].Item2.TotalSeconds, arrayStats[i].Item1);
    }
  }

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

List <T> is always gonna be faster than an arrayList. List <T>'s dont have to box the values that are added to them.

ArrayList only "accept" objects, so that means that while you can add any object you want to the list, it will have to be boxed (implicitly by the CLR) and then it has to be unboxed again (explicitly by you) when you need the values.

edit: here is a nice link