ArrayList vs. Vectors in Java if thread safety isn't a concern

Question

Is there really that much of a difference between the performance of Vector and ArrayList? Is it good practice to use ArrayLists at all times when

Answer 1

If thread safety isn't an issue you should always use ArrayList. Vector has the overhead of synchronization and it has been shown that the performance differences between ArrayList and Vector are abysmal. You can google for a lot of performance benchmarks.

Here's one Timing & Performance.