List and List<?> in Java

Question

What is the difference between List and List<?>? I know I can't add any element to the List<?>. I have a code:

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

public static void processList(List myList) {
Iterator it = myList.iterator();
while(it.hasNext())
    System.out.println(it.next());
}

public static void processListGeneric(List<?> myList) {
    Iterator<?> it = myList.iterator();
    while(it.hasNext())
        System.out.println(it.next());
}

The name of the two methods cannot be the same, because it causes compile time error. So is there any difference in these two approaches?

Answer 1

Both do the same, but in second case compiler is informed that you really want a list with no type bounds and raises no warnings. If you are working with Java 5 or later you are encouraged to use second approach.