Is an ArrayList or a LinkedList better for sorting?

Question

I want to use data structure that needs to be sorted every now and again. The size of the data structure will hardly exceed 1000 items.

Which one is better - A

Answer 1

If you are just sorting and not dynamically updating your sorted list, then either is fine and an array will be more memory efficient. Linked lists are really better if you want to maintain a sorted list. Inserting an object is fast into the middle of a linked list, but slow into an array.

Arrays are better if you want to find an object in the middle. With an array, you can do a binary sort and find if a member is in the list in O(logN) time. With a linked list, you need to walk the entire list which is very slow.

I guess which is better for your application depends on what you want to do with the list after it is sorted.