Comprehensive Guide to Python Set Exercises for Beginners

This guide presents a collection of exercises aimed at helping beginners understand and practice using sets in Python. Sets are a fundamental data structure that allows for the storage of unique items. Below, we summarize the key concepts and exercises associated with Python sets.

Key Concepts

• Sets:
  • A set is an unordered collection of unique elements.
  • Defined using curly braces {} or the set() constructor.
• Common Operations:

Sets Intersection: Find common elements using & or intersection().

set_intersection = set_a & set_b  # {2}

Sets Union: Combine two sets using | or union().

set_a = {1, 2}
set_b = {2, 3}
set_union = set_a | set_b  # {1, 2, 3}

Removing Elements: Use remove() or discard() methods.

my_set.remove(2)  # my_set becomes {1, 3, 4}
my_set.discard(5) # No error if 5 is not found

Adding Elements: Use the add() method.

my_set.add(4)  # my_set becomes {1, 2, 3, 4}

Example:

my_set = {1, 2, 3}
another_set = set([4, 5, 6])

Exercises

1. Creating a Set: Define a set with various data types.
   • Example: my_set = {1, 2, 3, 'hello', (1, 2)}
2. Set Operations:

Length of a Set: Determine how many unique elements are in a set using len(). Example:

unique_count = len(my_set)  # Returns the count of unique elements

Subset Check: Write a function that checks if one set is a subset of another. Example:

def is_subset(set1, set2):
    return set1.issubset(set2)

Unique Elements: Create a function to remove duplicates from a list by converting it to a set. Example:

def remove_duplicates(my_list):
    return list(set(my_list))

Write functions to perform union, intersection, and difference on sets. Example:

def set_union(set1, set2):
    return set1 | set2

Conclusion

The exercises provided in this guide are designed to reinforce the understanding of sets in Python through practical examples. By engaging with these exercises, beginners will build confidence in working with sets and utilizing their properties effectively in programming tasks.