Which List Your Access Pattern Asks For

Both lists are correct for every workload. The choice is about which operations are in the hot part of your code, so the question to answer first is what that code actually does.

The four common operations, on each list
Operation	`ArrayList`	`LinkedList`	Which wins
Append at the end	Constant, averaged	Constant	A tie, in practice `ArrayList`
Read by position	Constant	Walks to it	`ArrayList`, by a lot
Insert or remove at the front	Shifts everything	Constant	`LinkedList`
Insert in the middle, while iterating	Shifts the rest	Constant, via the iterator	`LinkedList`
Walk from start to end	Constant per element	Constant per element	A tie

The decision rule. Use ArrayList unless you have a specific reason not to, and the reason has to be inserting or removing at the front or middle, often, on a long list. Reading by position is common and appending is common, and ArrayList is better or equal at both.

When the reason does turn up, check ArrayDeque before LinkedList. It is constant at both ends, stores elements side by side like an array list, and carries none of the per-element pointer overhead.