Python From Scratch

Python Sets
Lesson 8 Content

 Python Sets
 Access Set Items
 Add Set Items
 Remove Set Items
 Loop Sets
 Join Sets
 Python - Set Methods
 Python - Set Exercises
 Python Sets
myset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
Set
Sets are used to store multiple items in a single variable.
Set is one of 4 built-in data types in Python used to store collections of data, the other 3 are List, Tuple,
and Dictionary, all with different qualities and usage.
A set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed.

* Note: Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove items and add new items.

Sets are written with curly brackets.

Example
Create a Set:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
print(thisset)

Note: Sets are unordered, so you cannot be sure in which order the items will appear.

Set Items
Set items are unordered, unchangeable, and do not allow duplicate values.

Unordered
Unordered means that the items in a set do not have a defined order.
Set items can appear in a different order every time you use them, and cannot be referred to by index or
key.

Unchangeable
Set items are unchangeable, meaning that we cannot change the items after the set has been created.
Once a set is created, you cannot change its items, but you can remove items and add new items.

Duplicates Not Allowed

Sets cannot have two items with the same value.
Example
Duplicate values will be ignored:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple"}

print(thisset)
 Python - Access Set Items
Access Items
You cannot access items in a set by referring to an index or a key.
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: Check if "banana" is present in the set:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"} thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

for x in thisset: print("banana" in thisset)

print(x)
Python - Add Set Items
Add Items
Once a set is created, you cannot change its items, but you can add new items.
To add one item to a set use the add() method.
Example
Add an item to a set, using the add() method:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
thisset.add("orange")
print(thisset)

Add Sets
To add items from another set into the current set, use the update() method.
Example
Add elements from tropical into thisset:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
tropical = {"pineapple", "mango", "papaya"}
thisset.update(tropical)

print(thisset)

Add Any Iterable

The object in the update() method does not have to be a set, it can be any iterable object (tuples, lists,
dictionaries etc.).
Example
Add elements of a list to at set:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
mylist = ["kiwi", "orange"]
thisset.update(mylist)

print(thisset)
 Python - Remove Set Items
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)

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)

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 a random item, so
you cannot be sure what item that gets removed.
The return value of the pop() method is the removed item.
Example
Remove a random item by using the pop() method:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
x = thisset.pop()

print(x)
print(thisset)

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

Example
The clear() method empties the set: The del keyword will delete the set completely:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"} thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
thisset.clear() del thisset

print(thisset) print(thisset)
 Python - Loop Sets
Loop Items
You can loop through the set items by using a for loop:
Example
Loop through the set, and print the values:
thisset = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

for x in thisset:
print(x)

Python - Join Sets

Join Two Sets
There are several ways to join two or more sets in Python.
You can use the union() method that returns a new set containing all items from both sets, or the update()
method that inserts all the items from one set into another:
Example
The union() method returns a new set with all items from both sets:
set1 = {"a", "b" , "c"}
set2 = {1, 2, 3}

set3 = set1.union(set2)
print(set3)
Example
The update() method inserts the items in set2 into set1:
set1 = {"a", "b" , "c"}
set2 = {1, 2, 3}

set1.update(set2)
print(set1)

Note: Both union() and update() will exclude any duplicate items.
Keep ONLY the Duplicates
The intersection_update() method will keep only the items that are present in both sets.
Example
Keep the items that exist in both set x, and set y:
x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

x.intersection_update(y)

print(x)

The intersection() method will return a new set, that only contains the items that are present in both sets.
Example
Return a set that contains the items that exist in both set x, and set y:
x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

z = x.intersection(y)

print(z)

Keep All, But NOT the Duplicates

The symmetric_difference_update() method will keep only the elements that are NOT present in both sets.
Example
Keep the items that are not present in both sets:
x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

x.symmetric_difference_update(y)

print(x)
The symmetric_difference() method will return a new set, that contains only the elements that are NOT
present in both sets.
Example
Return a set that contains all items from both sets, except items that are present in both:
x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
y = {"google", "microsoft", "apple"}

z = x.symmetric_difference(y)

print(z)
 Python - Set Methods
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

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

Python - Set Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises
Now you have learned a lot about sets, and how to use them in Python.
Are you ready for a test?
Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:
Exercise:
Check if "apple" is present in the fruits set.
fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

if "apple" fruits:
print("Yes, apple is a fruit!")