at least in older versions of max message was said to be slower because it is a GUI object. but they are not 100% the same thing anway. i mostly use pak (when the number of items is knowns and fixed)

Interesting. . In current version is there still a difference ? I always use the message method..

a minimum difference could be there when compared to list/pack/pak, because message allows arguments of any type, but i dont think that is something to care about today. function and form (aesthetics, readability, do i need to script it? do i want it to ignore wrong types?...) should be how you decide which one to use. many people like the message object because it looks different from object boxes. i use [message] mostly as my comment object and i write "list" instead of "pack" if its content is a constant (f.e. for initialisation) in my small world [message]s main function is that you can click it, not that you can store or assemble a list in it.

Thanks! This has been most illuminating. I've started using Max almost 20 years ago when performance aspects were understandably emphasized much more. I really have thought about this pretty naively but now totally agree with Roman's philosophy.