Java Performance - ArrayLists versus Arrays for lots of fast reads

Question

I have a program where I need to make 100,000 to 1,000,000 random-access reads to a List-like object in as little time as possible (as in milliseconds) for a cellular automa

Answer 1

An Array will be faster simply because at a minimum it skips a function call (i.e. get(i)).

If you have a static size, then Arrays are your friend.