[Design Question] Why FtpFile#listFiles() returns an array instead of a java.util.List?

[Andrea Francia]

FtpFile interface has this method:

  /**
   * List file objects. If not a directory or does not exist, null will be
   * returned. Files must be returned in alphabetical order.
   */
  FtpFile[] listFiles();
Why not:

  List<FtpFile> listFiles();

Using a java.util.List has those benefits:
- you can create a unmodifiable view of your list without copying the 
original list
- ftp implementor can implements some lazy loading

--
Andrea Francia
http://andreafrancia.blogspot.com/2008/07/colinux-linux-dentro-windows.html