Python Sets Page 1 of 9
w3schools.com
THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB DEVELOPER SITE
HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT MORE REFERENCES
Ad closed by
Report this ad Why this ad?
Python Sets
❮ Previous Next ❯
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"}
print(thisset)
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"}
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_sets.asp 09-06-2019
Python Sets Page 2 of 9
for x in thisset:
print(x)
Run example »
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"])
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_sets.asp 09-06-2019
Python Sets Page 3 of 9
print(thisset)
Run example »
Get the Length of a Set
To determine how many items a set has, use the len() method.
Example
Get the number of items in a set:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
print(len(thisset))
Run example »
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)
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_sets.asp 09-06-2019
Python Sets Page 4 of 9
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:
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_sets.asp 09-06-2019
Python Sets Page 5 of 9
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
It is also possible to use the set() constructor to make a set.
Example
Using the set() constructor to make a set:
thisset = set(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets
print(thisset)
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
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_sets.asp 09-06-2019
Python Sets Page 6 of 9
difference() Returns a set containing the difference between two or more
sets
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"}
if ("apple" fruits):
print("Yes, apple is a fruit!")
Submit Answer »
Start the Exercise
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_sets.asp 09-06-2019
