title: Removing range (tail) from a List
body: <p>Is there an efficient method to remove a range - say the tail - of X elements from a <code>List</code>, e.g. <code>LinkedList</code> in Java?</p>
  
  <p>It is obviously possible to remove the last elements one by one, which should result in O(X) level performance. At least for <code>LinkedList</code> instances it should be possible to have O(1) performance (by setting the references around the first element to be removed and setting the head/tail references). Unfortunately I don't see any method within <code>List</code> or <code>LinkedList</code> to remove the last elements all at once.</p>
  
  <p>Currently I am thinking of <em>replacing</em> the list by using <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/List.html#subList%28int,%20int%29" rel="noreferrer"><code>List.subList()</code></a> but I'm not sure if that has equal performance. At least it would be more clear within the code, on the other hand I would loose the additional functionality that <code>LinkedList</code> provides.</p>
  
  <p>I'm mainly using the List as a stack, for which <code>LinkedList</code> seems to be the best option, at least regarding semantics.</p>