What are the differences between sets and lists in programming?

What are the differences between sets and lists in programming?

Sets and lists are both data structures used to store collections of items, but they have key differences. Lists are ordered and can contain duplicate elements, while sets are unordered and do not allow duplicates.

Can you give me examples of when to use each?

Sure! Use lists when you need to maintain the order of elements or allow duplicates, like a shopping list. Use sets when you want to ensure all elements are unique, like a collection of unique user IDs.

What about performance differences?

Sets generally offer faster membership tests and uniqueness checks due to their underlying hash table implementation, while lists can be slower for these operations as they require linear searches.

Are there any specific programming languages where one is preferred over the other?

Yes, for example, Python has built-in support for both, but sets are often preferred for operations involving uniqueness and membership checks due to their efficiency.