There are a couple of types of lists in LaTeX. itemize, enumerate and description. itemize is a regular bullet point list, enumerate is a numbered list, while description is a list of descriptions. Each of these is an environment.

itemize and enumerate

itemize and enumerate are used very similarly, you simply start an itemize or enumerate environment, then you use the command \item for each item in the list, as shown in the following listing.

Listing #1

\begin{itemize}
  \item A bullet point
  \item in a bullet point list
\end{itemize}
\begin{enumerate}
  \item Enumerated lists
  \item provide numbered items
\end{enumerate}

description

The description list environment is not very different, but each list item also needs to define what is being described. This is done by adding an optional argument to the \item with the word(s) being described, as such:

Listing #2

\begin{description}
  \item[Described stuff] A description of the described stuff
\end{description}

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