code:

public Object most(List input) {
  Map counter = new HashMap();
  Object most = null;
  Integer highest = new Integer(0);
  for (Iterator i = input.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
    Object o = i.next();
    Integer count = (Integer)counter.get(o);
    if (count == null) {
     count = new Integer(0);
    }
    counter.put(o, new Integer(count.intValue()+1));
  }
  for (Iterator i = counter.keySet().iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
    Object key = i.next();
    Integer value = (Integer)counter.get(key);
    if(value.compareTo(highest) > 0) {
      most = key;
      highest = value;
    }
  }
  return most;
}