Then:We use len(), in and not-in to test the set. It has just 3 elements, despite specifying 5 strings.
Tip:When the set is initialized, duplicate values are removed. As with a dictionary, no two keys can have the same value.
In:The set also allows the in-keyword. This returns true or false depending on whether the item exists.
InBased on: Python 3 Python program that creates set # Create a set. items = {"arrow", "spear", "arrow", "arrow", "rock"} # Print set. print(items) print(len(items)) # Use in-keyword. if "rock" in items: print("Rock exists") # Use not-in keywords. if "clock" not in items: print("Cloak not found") Output {'spear', 'arrow', 'rock'} 3 Rock exists Cloak not found
Tip:This is a good approach if you don't know beforehand what elements are to be added.
Empty:We use set() to create an empty set. We cannot use empty curly brackets as they indicate an empty dictionary, not set.
Python program that adds, discards, removes # An empty set. items = set() # Add three strings. items.add("cat") items.add("dog") items.add("gerbil") print(items) Output {'gerbil', 'dog', 'cat'}
Integers:A set can contain integers, strings, or any type of elements that can be hashed.
Python program that creates set from list # Create a set from this list. # ... Duplicates are ignored. numbers = set([10, 20, 20, 30, 40, 50]) print(numbers) Output {40, 10, 20, 50, 30}
Here:In this program, we introduce two sets. The method results depend on the numbers in the sets.
Is subset:This returns true in the program because numbers2 is a subset of numbers1.
Is superset:This method also returns true in this program. Numbers1 is a superset of numbers2.
Intersection:This method returns a new set that contains just the shared numbers. Other values are omitted.
Python program that uses set methods numbers1 = {1, 3, 5, 7} numbers2 = {1, 3} # Is subset. if numbers2.issubset(numbers1): print("Is a subset") # Is superset. if numbers1.issuperset(numbers2): print("Is a superset") # Intersection of the two sets. print(numbers1.intersection(numbers2)) Output Is a subset Is a superset {1, 3}
Here:In the program, the sets each contained a 3, but the union method returns a set with just one 3.
Python program that unions two sets # Two sets. set1 = {1, 2, 3} set2 = {6, 5, 4, 3} # Union the sets. set3 = set1.union(set2) print(set3) Output {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Tip:Subtracting sets is not something I do every day. For this reason, I would prefer difference() to make the operation explicit.
Result:When we subtract set "b" from set "a", the string "connecticut" is removed. The other strings remain.
And:When we subtract set "a" from set "b", the string "connecticut" is also removed. The other two strings from "b" remain.
Python program that subtracts sets a = {"new york", "connecticut", "new jersey"} b = {"connecticut", "pennsylvania", "maine"} # Subtract. c = a - b print(c) # Difference. c = a.difference(b) print(c) # Subtract in opposite order. c = b - a print(c) # Difference in opposite order. c = b.difference(a) print(c) Output {'new jersey', 'new york'} {'new jersey', 'new york'} {'pennsylvania', 'maine'} {'pennsylvania', 'maine'}
So:To safely use remove(), you may need to use the in-operator beforehand. Discard meanwhile does not need this step.
Python that uses discard, remove animals = {"cat", "dog", "parrot", "walrus"} print(animals) # Discard nonexistent element, nothing happens. animals.discard("zebra") print(animals) # Discard element that exists. animals.discard("cat") print(animals) # Remove element that exists. animals.remove("parrot") print(animals) # Remove causes an error if the element is not found. animals.remove("buffalo") Output {'walrus', 'dog', 'parrot', 'cat'} {'walrus', 'dog', 'parrot', 'cat'} {'walrus', 'dog', 'parrot'} {'walrus', 'dog'} Traceback (most recent call last): File "...", line 16, in <module> animals.remove("buffalo") KeyError: 'buffalo'
Python that uses dictionary, set keys # This dictionary contains key-value pairs. dictionary = {"cat": 1, "dog": 2, "bird": 3} print(dictionary) # This set contains just the dictionary's keys. keys = set(dictionary) print(keys) Output {'bird': 3, 'dog': 2, 'cat': 1} {'cat', 'bird', 'dog'}
Result:The set was consistently faster. The set lookup was performed about 4% faster than the dictionary lookup in the simple benchmark.
Thus:When you need to test if an element exists in a collection, the set may offer improved performance over the dictionary.
Python that benchmarks set import time set1 = {"a", "b", "c", "z"} dict1 = {"a": 1, "b": 2, "c": 3, "z": 4} print(time.time()) # Use set. i = 0 while i < 10000000: a = "z" in set1 i += 1 print(time.time()) # Use dictionary. i = 0 while i < 10000000: a = "z" in dict1 i += 1 print(time.time()) Output 1346615677.741 1346615679.7 (Set = 1.959 s) 1346615681.732 (Dictionary = 2.032 s) 1346615958.731 1346615960.692 (Set = 1.961 s) 1346615962.736 (Dictionary = 2.044 s)
Overall:A dictionary is more powerful than a set. But in certain programs, a set is more graceful. It has methods such as intersection().
Python that uses set and map values = {10, 20, 30} # Multiply all values in the set by 100. result = map(lambda x: x * 100, values) # Display our results. for value in result: print(value) Output 1000 2000 3000
More advantages. A set shortens the syntax of programs. No values are specified. It provides mathematical methods like union that act on set logic.