What are the advantages of using sets in Python?

What are the advantages of using sets in Python?

Sets in Python offer several advantages, such as automatic handling of duplicates, faster membership testing, and efficient operations like unions and intersections.

Can you explain how sets handle duplicates?

Sure! Sets automatically remove duplicate entries, so when you add items to a set, only unique items are stored.

What about performance? Are sets faster than lists?

Yes, sets are generally faster than lists for membership tests because they use a hash table for storage, allowing for average O(1) time complexity.

Can you give me an example of using sets in Python?

Absolutely! Here's a simple example: my_set = {1, 2, 3, 4}. You can add an item with my_set.add(5) and check membership with 5 in my_set.

Are there any limitations to using sets?

Yes, sets can only contain hashable items, so you can't include mutable types like lists or dictionaries.