ArrayList vs List<> in C#

Question

What is the difference between ArrayList and List<> in C#?

Is it only that List<> has a type while ArrayLis

Answer 1

Using List you can prevent casting errors. It is very useful to avoid a runtime casting error.

Example:

Here (using ArrayList) you can compile this code but you will see an execution error later.

ArrayList array1 = new ArrayList();
array1.Add(1);
array1.Add("Pony"); //No error at compile process
int total = 0;
foreach (int num in array1)
{
 total += num; //-->Runtime Error
}

If you use List, you avoid these errors:

List list1 = new List();
list1.Add(1);
//list1.Add("Pony"); //<-- Error at compile process
int total = 0;
foreach (int num in list1 )
{
 total += num;
}

Reference: MSDN