The following article describes the Difference Between ArrayList Class and LinkedList Class in Java.
Basically both the ArrayList class and LinkedList class are available in Java’s Collection interface.
In Java, ArrayList and LinkedList are both classes used to implement a list data structure. However, they have some key differences in terms of their internal implementation, performance and memory usage.
In fact, ArrayList uses a dynamic array to store its elements, which provides fast access to elements using an index. It provides constant-time performance for basic operations such as get and set, but inserting or deleting an element in the middle of the list is an O(n) operation, as all elements after the insertion or deletion point must be shifted.
On the other hand, LinkedList uses a doubly-linked list to store its elements, where each node contains a reference to the previous and next elements in the list. Furthermore, LinkedList provides constant-time performance for insertion and deletion operations. However, accessing an element by the index is an O(n) operation.
Summary – Difference Between ArrayList Class and LinkedList Class in Java
To summarize, if you need fast random access and don’t need to frequently insert or delete elements in the middle of the list, use ArrayList. So, if you need to frequently insert or delete elements and don’t need fast random access, use LinkedList.