Python Tutorial 4.4 - Sets in Python

Welcome to the “Sets in Python” tutorial!

Overview

Sets are unordered collections of unique elements, useful for membership testing and set operations.

Creating Sets

fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
empty = set()

Common Operations

• Adding/Removing Items:

  fruits.add("date")
  fruits.remove("banana")
  

• Membership Testing:

  "apple" in fruits  # True
  

• Set Operations:

  a = {1, 2, 3}
  b = {3, 4, 5}
  print(a.union(b))       # {1,2,3,4,5}
  print(a.intersection(b))# {3}
  print(a.difference(b))  # {1,2}
  

Key Takeaways

• Sets enforce uniqueness.
• Perfect for mathematical set operations.
• Not indexed—cannot slice or access by position.

Happy coding!