Python Sets Page 1 of 9

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Python Sets
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Set
A set is a collection which is unordered and unindexed. In Python sets are written with curly
brackets.

Example
Create a Set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

Run example »

Note: Sets are unordered, so the items will appear in a random order.

Access Items
You cannot access items in a set by referring to an index, since sets are unordered the items has no
index.

But you can loop through the set items using a for loop, or ask if a specified value is present in a
set, by using the in keyword.

Example
Loop through the set, and print the values:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

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for x in thisset:
print(x)

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Example
Check if "banana" is present in the set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print("banana" in thisset)

Run example »

Change Items
Once a set is created, you cannot change its items, but you can add new items.

Add Items
To add one item to a set use the add() method.

To add more than one item to a set use the update() method.

Example
Add an item to a set, using the add() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.add("orange")

print(thisset)

Run example »

Example
Add multiple items to a set, using the update() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.update(["orange", "mango", "grapes"])

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print(thisset)

Run example »

 

Get the Length of a Set

Example
Get the number of items in a set:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print(len(thisset))

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Remove Item
To remove an item in a set, use the remove() , or the discard() method.

Example
Remove "banana" by using the remove() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.remove("banana")

print(thisset)

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Run example »

Note: If the item to remove does not exist, remove() will raise an error.

Example
Remove "banana" by using the discard() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.discard("banana")

print(thisset)

Run example »

Note: If the item to remove does not exist, discard() will NOT raise an error.

You can also use the pop() , method to remove an item, but this method will remove the last item.
Remember that sets are unordered, so you will not know what item that gets removed.

The return value of the pop() method is the removed item.

Example
Remove the last item by using the pop() method:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

x = thisset.pop()

print(x)

print(thisset)

Run example »

Note: Sets are unordered, so when using the pop() method, you will not know which item
that gets removed.

Example
The clear() method empties the set:

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thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

thisset.clear()

print(thisset)

Run example »

Example
The del keyword will delete the set completely:

thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

del thisset

print(thisset)

Run example »

The set() Constructor

Example
Using the set() constructor to make a set:

thisset = set(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets

Run example »

Set Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on sets.

Method Description

add() Adds an element to the set

clear() Removes all the elements from the set

copy() Returns a copy of the set

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difference() Returns a set containing the difference between two or more

difference_update() Removes the items in this set that are also included in another,
specified set

discard() Remove the specified item

intersection() Returns a set, that is the intersection of two other sets

intersection_update() Removes the items in this set that are not present in other,
specified set(s)

isdisjoint() Returns whether two sets have a intersection or not

issubset() Returns whether another set contains this set or not

issuperset() Returns whether this set contains another set or not

pop() Removes an element from the set

remove() Removes the specified element

symmetric_difference() Returns a set with the symmetric differences of two sets

symmetric_difference_update inserts the symmetric differences from this set and another
()

union() Return a set containing the union of sets

update() Update the set with the union of this set and others

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Check if "apple" is present in the fruits set.

fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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