Also some things to note: a) game logic tends not to parallelize very well for various reasons, but even so it depends on the domain of the problem whether or not you can run a parallel algorithm on a linked list, b) if you already have a reference to the insertion point you can avoid the walk, c) cache coherence is only important of you are actually iterating over the list, etc.

Alice: Can you think of any situation where apples are better than oranges?

Bob: Well, if someone had a craving for apples, then they would be better.

Charlie: Unfortunately, you are wrong. Even in that situation, oranges are juicier, have more tang, and contain more vitamin C.

That isn't always true. If you already have a pointer to the position in the list, and the list has an API that supports it (which a good implementation would), then with a linked list you wouldn't need to traverse the list again.

That said, in most cases that probably isn't worth the downsides of a linked list, especially if the size of the list is small.

I think you're overcorrecting here.

There used to be a conventional wisdom that linked lists were always faster than dynamic arrays because you don't have to copy or shift items. But then CPUs got faster while memory didn't and caching effects became so prevalent that that conventional wisdom is no longer true.

Today, in many cases, arrays are faster. And that awareness of caching effects is becoming greater. But I think there's a tendency to over-apply new knowledge that seems counter-intuitive.

The reality is somewhere in the middle. Arrays can be surprisingly fast, even when you need to shift stuff around to insert or copy to grow. But there are still plenty of cases where linked lists are better if you are doing a lot of inserting or rearranging. I don't think the guidance is so much "linked lists bad!" as it is "arrays maybe not bad".

Also, in an interview, it should be fine to talk about all this. It could lead to some good technical discussion where you can show your knowledge. If such a conversation does arise though, remember you have to make these people like you and ramming your point down their throats and forcing them to acknowledge that you're right and they're wrong probably doesn't do that. Also, don't forget you may, indeed, be wrong.