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Python Sets

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Garuma Abdisa
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7 views

Python Sets

Uploaded by

Garuma Abdisa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Python Sets: Overview

A set in Python is an unordered collection of unique elements. Sets are mutable, meaning you
can add or remove elements, but their elements must be immutable (e.g., integers, strings,
tuples). Sets are particularly useful for membership testing and eliminating duplicate entries.

Creating a Set

You can create a set using the set() constructor or curly braces {}.

Example:

python
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# Creating a set with curly braces
fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
print(fruits) # Output: {'apple', 'banana', 'cherry'}

# Creating a set using the set() function


numbers = set([1, 2, 3, 3, 4])
print(numbers) # Output: {1, 2, 3, 4} # Duplicate '3' is removed

Characteristics of Sets

1. Unordered: Elements have no fixed position, so indexing is not supported.


2. Unique Elements: Duplicate elements are automatically removed.
3. Mutable: You can add or remove elements.

Common Set Operations

1. Adding Elements

Use the add() method to add a single element to a set.

python
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fruits = {"apple", "banana"}
fruits.add("cherry")
print(fruits) # Output: {'apple', 'banana', 'cherry'}

2. Updating Elements

Use the update() method to add multiple elements.

python
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fruits = {"apple", "banana"}
fruits.update(["cherry", "orange"])
print(fruits) # Output: {'apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'orange'}
3. Removing Elements

 remove(): Removes a specific element; raises an error if the element does not exist.
 discard(): Removes a specific element; does not raise an error if the element does not
exist.
 pop(): Removes a random element.
 clear(): Empties the set.

python
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fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
fruits.remove("banana") # Removes 'banana'
print(fruits) # Output: {'apple', 'cherry'}

fruits.discard("orange") # No error if 'orange' is absent

fruits.pop() # Removes a random element


print(fruits)

fruits.clear() # Empties the set


print(fruits) # Output: set()

4. Set Membership

Check if an element exists in a set using in or not in.

python
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fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
print("apple" in fruits) # Output: True
print("orange" not in fruits) # Output: True

Mathematical Set Operations

1. Union

Combines elements from two sets, removing duplicates.

python
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set1 = {1, 2, 3}
set2 = {3, 4, 5}
print(set1.union(set2)) # Output: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

2. Intersection

Finds common elements between two sets.

python
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print(set1.intersection(set2)) # Output: {3}
3. Difference

Finds elements in one set that are not in the other.

python
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print(set1.difference(set2)) # Output: {1, 2}

4. Symmetric Difference

Finds elements in either of the sets but not in both.

python
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print(set1.symmetric_difference(set2)) # Output: {1, 2, 4, 5}

Set Comprehension

Like list comprehensions, sets support comprehensions for generating new sets.

Example:

python
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squared = {x ** 2 for x in range(5)}
print(squared) # Output: {0, 1, 4, 9, 16}

Practical Applications of Sets

1. Eliminating Duplicates from a List

python
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numbers = [1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5]
unique_numbers = set(numbers)
print(unique_numbers) # Output: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

2. Membership Testing

python
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names = {"Alice", "Bob", "Charlie"}
if "Bob" in names:
print("Bob is in the set!") # Output: Bob is in the set!

3. Set Algebra For operations like finding common employees in two departments or
differences in datasets.

Summary
 Use sets when you need to maintain unique elements and perform mathematical
operations.
 Sets are unordered and mutable but do not support indexing.
 Python provides several built-in methods to manipulate sets, making them powerful for
many use cases.

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