Junilu Lacar wrote:For example, it was recently pointed out in another thread that the RandomAccess marker interface actually indicates that a List implementation will typically perform better using a for-loop and List.get(n) versus an Iterator and next()/hasNext(). This would fall under the "passive signal" category.
That's a sort of signal, sure. But to me it's a signal
to programmers that using the List.get(n) method would be an O(1) operation rather than an O(N) operation. Now it's true that code in the standard API might well make use of that signal, but the standard API isn't the JVM either.