ArrayList vs Array of Strings?

[daviddoria]

If I want to store a list of names ie. "David", "Frank", "Chris", would it be better to do:

 Dim al As New ArrayList()

  al.Add("David")
  al.Add("Frank")
  al.Add("Chris")

or

 Dim names(2) As string
names(0) = "David"
names(1) = "Frank"
names(2) = "Chris"

Also, what is the difference if you put the () with the variable name or with the type? I see sometimes

 Dim names(2) As string

and other times

 Dim names As string()

Thanks!

Dave