I’ve noticed that many online coding challenges and questions, such as those on coding platforms like HackerRank or LeetCode, often use method signatures like:

public static void bonAppetit(List<Integer> bill, int k, int b)
instead of using arrays, like:

public static void bonAppetit(Integer[] bill, int k, int b)

Why is List commonly preferred over arrays? Are there specific advantages or reasons for this choice in the context of coding challenges?

Thanks in advance!

What I expected:

I expected that using arrays might be more efficient due to lower overhead, as arrays are a more fundamental data structure in Java. I also thought that the use of arrays might be more straightforward in some scenarios.

What actually resulted:

In practice, I found that using List often made the code more readable and easier to work with, especially when using Java’s standard library functions. Additionally, many built-in methods and utilities in Java are designed to work with collections, making List more convenient for certain operations.

Question:

Why is List commonly preferred over arrays in these coding challenges? Are there specific advantages or reasons for this choice in the context of coding challenges?

Thanks in advance!