set() Built-in Function

Python set()

Python set() built-in function is used to create a new set. A set is a collection of unique items.

In this tutorial, you will learn the syntax of set() function, and then its usage with the help of example programs.

Syntax

The syntax of set() function is

set(iterable)

where

Examples

1. Create a set with elements from a list

In this example, we take a list of numbers, and create a set with the elements of this list, using set() function.

myList = [2, 4, 8, 4, 6, 2]
mySet = set(myList)
print(mySet)

Output

{8, 2, 4, 6}

2. Create empty set

Iterable parameter is optional to set() function. If we do not pass any iterable as argument to set() function, then it returns an empty set.

In this example, we create an empty set using set() function.

mySet = set()
print(mySet)

Output

set()

3. Add elements to set

We may add elements to the set using set.add() method.

mySet = set()
mySet.add(2)
mySet.add(4)
print(mySet)

Output

{2, 4}

Summary

In this Python Built-in Functions tutorial, we learned the syntax of set() builtin function and how to use it, with the help of examples.