Introduction
In Java, both List and Set are interfaces used to store collections of elements, but they serve different purposes. A List allows duplicate elements and maintains insertion order, while a Set does not allow duplicates and may not preserve order. Understanding the key differences between these two can help in choosing the right one based on specific use cases.

In this article, we will check the difference between list and set and look at the properties, implementation and performance of each.
First, we will go through the definition of list and set.
What is List Interface in Java?
A list is a collection of elements, where each element has an index that starts from 0. See the image below for a better understanding. In Java, a List is an interface that is part of the Java Collections Framework. It represents an ordered collection of elements, allowing for the storage and manipulation of data. The List interface extends the Collection interface and provides several methods for working with lists of objects.

It is also mutable, so you can change the elements whenever you require. And it can also have duplicate elements with different data types. One important thing to remember is to initialise the list with the square bracket. See the below code for a better understanding.
List = [1, 1, "NINJA", 5.6]
We will move to the Set definition to better understand the difference between list and set.
Syntax of list in Java
List<Type> listName = new ArrayList<>();
Properties of List Interface
- Lists are a data structure that stores an ordered collection of elements.
- Each element in a list has an index for addressing.
- It is mutable, so you can change its elements any time you want.
- You can add new elements to a list using the append() method or insert() method.
- You can remove elements from a list using the remove() method or pop() method.
- Here it is easy to access individual elements in a list using their index.
- Here we can also concatenate two lists using this ( + ) operator or the extend () method.
- Here you can sort lists also using the sort() method.
Code Implementation of list in Java
Output
Initial list of coders: [Master Coder, Master Coder, Experienced Coder]
Removed coder at index 2
Removed last coder: Intermediate Coder
First coder in the list: Master Coder
Updated list of coders: [Master Coder]