Python Sets

Sets allow multiple values to be stored as a collection.

  • The collection of values in a set can be changed after it has been initialised. Sets are mutable (the exception is if you use frozenset() to create an immutable set).
  • The values in a set must be immutable and hashable. This means you can't have a set of sets
  • The values in a set are unordered, meaning they cannot be accessed in a consistent order or accessed by an index.
  • The values cannot be accessed by a key (unlike a dictionary).
  • Sets cannot have repeated items. Each item in a set can only appear once.

Example: Creating a Set

Python
types = { 'Motorbike', 'Car', 'Truck' }
print(types)

Output

{ 'Motorbike', 'Car', 'Truck' }

Example: Using the set constructor

Python
# Pass in a set to the "set()" constructor.
types = set( {'Motorbike', 'Car', 'Truck'} )    # note the curly brackets

# Pass in a tuple to the "set()" constructor.
types = set( ('Motorbike', 'Car', 'Truck') )    # note the double parentheses

Example: Creating a Set wuth one element

One would assume that creating a Tuple one element was as simple as

Python
types = { 'Motorbike' }

print(types)
print(type(types))

Output

{ 'Motorbike' }
<class 'set'>

Notes

A Tuple can contain any type of object, and can mix and match object types.

Example: Mixing types in a Set

Python
# A Set containing a string, a number and a Tuple
mixedBag = { 'string', 42, (1,2,3) }

Output

{ 'string', (1,2,3), 42 }

Notice that the output has the elements in the set in a different order than it was defined.