Named entries let users reference list entries by a user-specified name. Keyed entries let users maintain list entries in a keyed order. The choice of named or keyed entries, or the use of neither, depends on how the list structure is being used. For instance, if the list entries represent units of work ordered by priority, you might choose keyed entries. If the list entries represent customer records in a particular category, you might choose named entries. If the lists represent units of work to be processed on a FIFO basis, there might be no need for names or keys.

List structures allocated in a coupling facility of CFLEVEL=9 or higher optionally can be allocated with secondary keys as a further means of referencing a list entry by keyed order.

Note that sublist monitoring and event queue monitoring are functions that require that the list structure have keyed entries.