in most cases the List<String> should be enough. No need to create an ArrayList
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
...
String[] words={"ace","boom","crew","dog","eon"};
List<String> l = Arrays.<String>asList(words);
// if List<String> isnt specific enough:
ArrayList<String> al = new ArrayList<String>(l);