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6.sets in Python

Sets in Python are data structures that contain unique and unordered elements, similar to mathematical sets. Elements in a Python set cannot be duplicated. Sets support operations like union, intersection, and difference that are the same as those for mathematical sets. Some key properties of Python sets are that they are iterable, mutable by allowing addition or removal of elements, and do not allow duplication. Sets provide a useful way to handle unique elements without indexing like lists or dictionaries.

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Subhojit Singha
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20 views

6.sets in Python

Sets in Python are data structures that contain unique and unordered elements, similar to mathematical sets. Elements in a Python set cannot be duplicated. Sets support operations like union, intersection, and difference that are the same as those for mathematical sets. Some key properties of Python sets are that they are iterable, mutable by allowing addition or removal of elements, and do not allow duplication. Sets provide a useful way to handle unique elements without indexing like lists or dictionaries.

Uploaded by

Subhojit Singha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sets In Python

Let's start with the basic definition of sets in


Mathematics. People already familiar with the concept of
sets in mathematics know that as per the mathematical
definition - A set is a collection of well-defined objects and
non-repetitive elements that is - a set with 1,2,3,4,3,4,5,2,
2, and 3 as its elements can be written as {1,2,3,4,5}

No repetition of elements is allowed in sets.

In Python programming, sets are more or less the same.


Let's look at the Python programming definition of sets:

“A set is a data structure, having unordered, unique, and


unindexed elements.”

Elements in a set are also called entries and no two


entries could be the same within a set.

If your curiosity isn’t satisfied with the basic definition, do


not worry as we are approaching a more formal illustrative
approach to an understanding of python sets.

Well, now that you have a basic idea about sets in


mathematics. Let me tell you that a mathematical set has
some basic operations which can be performed on them.
For example, the union of two sets is a set made using all
the elements from both the sets. The intersection is an
operation that creates a set containing common elements
from both the sets. A python set has all the properties and
attributes of the mathematical set. The union,
intersection, disjoint, etc. all methods are exactly the
same which can be performed on sets in python language
too.

Note: If you are a programming beginner who doesn't


know much about sets in mathematics. You can simply
understand that sets in python are data types containing
unique elements.

If you want to use sets in your python programs, you


should know the following properties of sets in Python:

 Sets are iterable(iterations can be performed using


loops)
 They are mutable (can be updated by adding or
removing entries)
 There is no duplication (two same entries do not
occur)

Structure:

 Elements of the sets are written in between two curly


brackets and are separated with a comma, and in this
simple way, we can create a set in Python.
 The other way of forming a set is by using a built-in
set constructor function.

Both of these approaches are defined in the video above.

Let me now share some basic information about sets so


that you can know why they are so important and why you
should learn them.

Unlike the dictionary (that we have learned in tutorial 10


and 11), sets are not just restricted to Python language,
but nearly all commonly used programming languages
have sets included in them as a data type. Examples of
these languages include C++, Java, etc., even languages
such as Swift and JavaScript support sets. One of the
earliest languages that supported sets was Pascal. I hope
you now have a rough idea around how important these
sets actually are because whichever language you choose
to code in, you must have a very basic understanding of
sets!
Restrictions:

Everything has a limit to its functionality, there are some


limitations on working with sets too.

 Once a set is created, you can not change any of its


items, although you can add new items or remove
previous but updating an already existing item is not
possible.
 There is no indexing in sets, so accessing an item in
order or through a key is not possible, although we
can ask the program if the specific keyword we are
looking for is present in the set by using “in” keyword
or by looping through the set by using a for loop(we
will cover for loops in tutorial # 16 and 17)

Despite these restrictions, sets play a very important role


in the life of a python programmer. In most cases, these
restrictions are never a problem for the programmer given
he knows which data type to use when. And this skill is
something you will learn with time after writing a lot of
python programs

Set Methods:

There are already a lot of built-in methods that you can


use for your ease and they are easily accessible through
the internet. You might want to peep into python's official
documentation at times as well to check for some updates
they might push down the line. Some of the methods you
can use with sets include union(), discard(), add(),
isdisjoint(), etc. and their functionality is the same as in
the sets in mathematics. Also, the purpose of these
functions can easily be understood by their names.

Hope you now got a basic understanding of Sets and their


working. For further explanation and understanding watch
the video tutorial to grasp the concept completely. Do not
forget to subscribe on YouTube :)
Code file as described in the video

s = set()
# print(type(s))
# l = [1, 2, 3, 4]
# s_from_list = set(l)
# print(s_from_list)
# print(type(s_from_list))
s.add(1)
s.add(2)
s.remove(2)
s1 = {4, 6}
print(s.isdisjoint(s1))

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