Can't compile an ArrayList statement in java?

Question

I am trying to create an array list. For some reason, it won't compile. Here's the code, can anyone see why it would be doing this? Thanks.

import java.util.*;
ArrayList previous = new ArrayList(); ------not a statement

ok, heres the general structure-I cut out some stuff that doesn't affect it because the code is almost 1000 lines long.

public class BillingCheck{
public BillingCheck() throws IOException{
boolean equals = false;
........
...................
if(equals == false){
ArrayList previous = new ArrayList();
}

thats everything that could possibly affect that line of code...

Oh, and I did have it as Java.util.ArrayList.*;
even though it really shouldn't make a difference

Answer 1

you should import java.util.ArrayList;
what you do should work.
can you give me the entire file where this occurs ?

You probably made a mistake on another place in the file