java - Why are most of the examples using ArrayList

Question

Developing Java, you have always learned that its best to create an ArrayList by using the List interface as the type for the variable the list is stored in. Like this

List<String> myList = new ArrayList<String>();

However, by looking at a lot of the android examples that is included in the bundle, they have created the list by using the Class.

ArrayList<String> myList = new ArrayList<String>();

Is there any reason why this is done? Is it faster, lighter or something to explicitly setting the Class?

Answer 1

I'd recommend to read Performance Myths, which explains which are the advantages and problems of defining a variable as List or ArrayList.