Vectors are synchronized. Any method that touches the Vector's contents is thread safe. ArrayList, on the other hand, is unsynchronized, making them, therefore, not thread safe. With that difference in mind, using synchronization will incur a performance hit. So if you don't need a thread-safe collection, use the ArrayList

A Vector defaults to doubling the size of its array, while the ArrayList increases its array size by 50 percent. Depending on how you use these classes, you could end up taking a large performance hit while adding new elements. It's always best to set the object's initial capacity to the largest capacity that your program will need. By carefully setting the capacity, you can avoid paying the penalty needed to resize the internal array later.

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