What are the best practices for using sets in Python?

What are the best practices for using sets in Python?

Using sets in Python is great for unique collections. Best practices include using them for membership tests, removing duplicates, and leveraging set operations like union and intersection.

Can you give me an example of using sets to remove duplicates from a list?

Sure! You can convert a list to a set to remove duplicates: unique_items = set(my_list). Then, if you need it back as a list, use list(unique_items).

Are there any performance considerations when using sets?

Yes, sets are generally faster for membership tests compared to lists. However, they use more memory, so consider your use case.

What about the order of elements in a set?

Sets are unordered collections, meaning they do not maintain the order of elements. If order matters, consider using collections.OrderedDict or a list.

Can you explain set operations like union and intersection?

Absolutely! You can use set1.union(set2) for union and set1.intersection(set2) for intersection. These operations help combine or find common elements between sets.