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Performance comparison of using a List as opposed to an Array

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3.06/5 (13 votes)
17 Jun 2010CPOL 52.5K   3   47
Benchmark both List and string[].

Introduction

The objective of this article is to elucidate you, fellow developers, to really evaluate the need of using a generic List<T> instead of an old string[], since usually the cost is overlooked.

Using the Code

I've built a simple example to compare the performance for reading and writing to a List<string> and a string[]. Concerning the writing time in milliseconds, for 100000 randomly generated items, the string[] outperformed the List<string> by approximately 8ms.

C#
//Write
const int size = 100000;
Stopwatch startList = new Stopwatch();
startList.Start();
List<string> listString = new List<string>(size);
for (int i = 0; i <= size; i++)
{
    string toAdd = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
    listString.Add(toAdd);
}
startList.Stop();
TimeSpan durationList = startList.Elapsed;

Stopwatch startArray = new Stopwatch();
startArray.Start();
string[] arrayString = new string[size];
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
{
    string toAdd = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
    arrayString[i] = toAdd;
}
startArray.Stop();
TimeSpan durationArray= startArray.Elapsed;

When reading, the string[] outperforms the List<string> by approximately 2.5 times faster!!

C#
//Read
Stopwatch startListRead = new Stopwatch();
startListRead.Start();
for (int i = 0; i <= listString.Count - 1; i++)
{
    string str = listString[i];
}
startListRead.Stop();
TimeSpan durationListRead = startListRead.Elapsed;

Stopwatch startArrayRead = new Stopwatch();
startArrayRead.Start();
for (int i = 0; i <= arrayString.Length - 1; i++)
{
    string str = arrayString[i];
}
startArrayRead.Stop();
TimeSpan durationArrayRead = startArrayRead.Elapsed;

And you can still do this with LINQ to Objects with an array, as you do with your List<string>:

C#
//Perform our LINQ query on an Array just like a List<T>
var result = from i in arrayString
         where i.StartsWith("a")
         select i;

Results:

benchmarkres.png

So, bottom line, you should consider if you really need the List<T> as opposed to an array because there are serious performance costs that will affect your application.

Points of Interest

Creating concerns on performance of instructions being used in your applications.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior) Truphone
Portugal Portugal
This member has not yet provided a Biography. Assume it's interesting and varied, and probably something to do with programming.

Comments and Discussions

 
Questionlist<>.Count Kills Reading Performance Pin
MountainGhost30-Aug-12 6:41
MountainGhost30-Aug-12 6:41 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Dan Randolph8-Jul-12 6:17
Dan Randolph8-Jul-12 6:17 
GeneralRe: My vote of 5 Pin
Dan Randolph8-Jul-12 7:00
Dan Randolph8-Jul-12 7:00 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
krishnabhargav16-Jun-10 13:50
krishnabhargav16-Jun-10 13:50 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:33
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:33 
AnswerAbout accuracy Pin
Niklas L17-Jun-10 2:48
Niklas L17-Jun-10 2:48 
GeneralRe: About accuracy Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:21
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:21 
GeneralRe: About accuracy Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:33
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:33 
Generalhad similar results ... BUt Pin
krishnabhargav16-Jun-10 13:29
krishnabhargav16-Jun-10 13:29 
GeneralRe: had similar results ... BUt Pin
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:33
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:33 
GeneralRe: had similar results ... BUt Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:34
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:34 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Yaroslav Tatarenko16-Jun-10 10:26
Yaroslav Tatarenko16-Jun-10 10:26 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:31
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:31 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:36
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:36 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
Yaroslav Tatarenko17-Jun-10 7:18
Yaroslav Tatarenko17-Jun-10 7:18 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 7:29
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 7:29 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Jason McBurney16-Jun-10 6:17
Jason McBurney16-Jun-10 6:17 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:31
ricmrodrigues16-Jun-10 23:31 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:35
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:35 
GeneralThoughts Pin
PIEBALDconsult15-Jun-10 18:19
mvePIEBALDconsult15-Jun-10 18:19 
GeneralRe: Thoughts Pin
ricmrodrigues15-Jun-10 22:28
ricmrodrigues15-Jun-10 22:28 
GeneralRe: Thoughts Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:35
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 3:35 
GeneralRe: Thoughts Pin
PIEBALDconsult17-Jun-10 14:38
mvePIEBALDconsult17-Jun-10 14:38 
GeneralRe: Thoughts Pin
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 22:29
ricmrodrigues17-Jun-10 22:29 
GeneralRe: Thoughts Pin
PIEBALDconsult18-Jun-10 3:38
mvePIEBALDconsult18-Jun-10 3:38 

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