A list is used to get one or more options out of several given options which may or may not be mutually exclusive. This may seem to be the case where CheckBoxes are to be used, but the difference is in the number of options available. If the number of options is small, then CheckBoxes can be used. In case of large number of options, using CheckBoxes may take up a lot of space on the form and it may also be inconvenient for the user to select the desired options. In such cases Lists are preferred over checkboxes. Examples of such cases are: To select cities out of a given list of cities, to select magazines out of a given list of magazines, etc.
