Python Programming — Unit 3: Sets
Department of Computer Science
MIET, Meerut
Fall 2025
Department of Computer Science MIET, Meerut Python Sets Fall 2025 1 / 16
Contents
1 Introduction to Sets
2 Creating Sets
3 Adding and Removing Elements
4 Set Operations
5 Membership and Comparison
6 Set Methods Table
7 Frozen Sets
8 Practical Examples
9 Pitfalls and Tips
10 Exercises
11 Summary
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What is a Set? (Simple Explanation)
Definition
A set in Python is an unordered collection of unique elements. It is
used to store multiple items in a single variable without duplicates.
Sets are written using curly braces { } or by using the set()
constructor.
A set automatically removes duplicate values.
Set elements must be immutable (numbers, strings, tuples), but the
set itself is mutable.
Sets do not maintain order and cannot be indexed.
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Creating Sets (Examples)
1 # using curly braces
2 numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
3 print ( numbers )
4
5 # using set () constructor
6 letters = set (['a', 'b', 'c', 'a'
])
7 print ( letters )
8
9 # empty set
10 empty = set ()
11 print (type(empty))
Output
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
{'a', 'b', 'c'}
<class 'set'>
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Adding and Removing Elements
1 A = {1, 2, 3}
2 [Link] (4) # add single
element
3 A. update ([5, 6]) # add
multiple elements
4 print (A)
5
6 A. remove (2) # remove
specific element
7 A. discard (10) # no error if
missing
8 popped = [Link] () # removes
random element
9 print (" After removals :", A)
10 print (" Popped :", popped )
11
12 [Link] () # remove all
elements
13 print (A)
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Set Operations — Union, Intersection, Difference
1 A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
2 B = {4, 5, 6, 7}
3
4 print (" Union :", A | B)
5 print (" Intersection :", A & B)
6 print (" Difference A-B:", A - B)
7 print (" Difference B-A:", B - A)
8 print (" Symmetric Difference :", A
^ B)
Output
Union: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
Intersection: {4, 5}
Difference A-B: {1, 2, 3}
Difference B-A: {6, 7}
Symmetric Difference: {1, 2, 3, 6, 7}
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Membership and Comparison
1 A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
2 print (3 in A) # True
3 print (10 in A) # False
4
5 B = {1, 2, 3}
6 print (B. issubset (A)) # True
7 print (A. issuperset (B)) # True
8
9 C = {10, 11}
10 print (A. isdisjoint (C)) # True
Output
True
False
True
True
True
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Common Set Methods (Quick Reference Table)
Method Description Example / Res
add(x) Add single element [Link](5)
update(iter) Add multiple [Link]([1,2])
remove(x) Remove element (error if missing) [Link](3)
discard(x) Remove element (safe) [Link](10)
pop() Remove random element [Link]()
clear() Remove all elements [Link]()
union(t) Combine sets [Link](t) or s
intersection(t) Common elements s&t
difference(t) Subtract elements s-t
symmetric_difference(t) XOR elements s t̂
issubset(t) Check subset [Link](t)
issuperset(t) Check superset [Link](t)
isdisjoint(t) No common elements [Link](t)
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Frozen Sets (Immutable Sets)
A frozenset is an immutable version of a set.
Once created, elements cannot be added or removed.
Useful when you need to use a set as a dictionary key.
1 A = frozenset ([1, 2, 3])
2 B = frozenset ([3, 4, 5])
3 print (A | B)
4 print (A & B)
5 # [Link] (6) # Error : frozenset
object has no attribute 'add '
Output
frozenset({1, 2, 3, 4, 5})
frozenset({3})
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Example 1: Remove Duplicates from a List
1 data = [1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5]
2 unique = list(set(data))
3 print ( unique )
Output
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
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Example 2: Find Common Students in Two Courses
1 course_A = {" Alice ", "Bob", "
Charlie "}
2 course_B = {"Bob", " David ", "Eve"
}
3
4 common = course_A & course_B
5 print (" Common students :", common )
Output
Common students: {'Bob'}
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Example 3: Set Algebra Application
1 all_students = {"A","B","C","D","
E","F"}
2 cricket = {"A","B","C"}
3 football = {"B","D","E"}
4
5 # Students playing both
6 print ("Both:", cricket & football
)
7 # Students playing only cricket
8 print ("Only cricket :", cricket -
football )
9 # Students playing neither
10 print (" Neither :", all_students -
( cricket | football ))
Output
Both: {'B'}
Only cricket: {'A', 'C'}
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Common Pitfalls and Tips
Sets are unordered — you can’t rely on the element order.
You can’t use lists or dictionaries inside sets (unhashable types).
Membership checks (in) are O(1) on average — very fast.
Use sets for deduplication and efficient membership operations.
For immutable sets, use frozenset().
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Practice Exercises
1 Write a program to find the intersection and union of two sets.
2 Given two lists, find unique elements present in only one of them.
3 Check whether one set is a subset of another.
4 Create a program that counts unique words in a sentence using a set.
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Summary — Python Sets
A set is an unordered collection of unique elements.
Supports mathematical operations: union, intersection, difference.
Fast membership testing and easy deduplication.
Use frozenset() when immutability is required.
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Thank You!
Questions?
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