In this tutorial, we will look at how to calculate the symmetric difference between two sets in Python with the help of some examples.
What is Symmetric Difference in sets?
The symmetric difference between two sets (for example, A and B) is the set of values from both sets that are not shared between the two sets. That is values that are in either set A or set B but not in both. Let’s look at an example.
You can see that the resulting set contains values that are present in either A or B but not in both sets.
Set Symmetric Difference in Python
Python comes with a built-in set data structure to implement a set. It also has a number of additional functions to help you with common operations on sets such as union, intersection, difference, etc.
To get the symmetric difference between two sets in Python, you can use the set symmetric_ difference() function. The following is the syntax:
# symmertic difference between a and b a.symmetric_difference(b)
It returns a new set containing the elements unique to either a or b and not including the elements shared by the two sets.
# create two sets
a = {1,2,3}
b = {2,3,4,5}
# symmetric difference
a.symmetric_difference(b)
Output:
{1, 4, 5}
We get the resulting set as {1, 4, 5} as these are the elements that are not shared between the two sets. Elements 2 and 3 are common between a and b.
Introductory ⭐
- Harvard University Data Science: Learn R Basics for Data Science
- Standford University Data Science: Introduction to Machine Learning
- UC Davis Data Science: Learn SQL Basics for Data Science
- IBM Data Science: Professional Certificate in Data Science
- IBM Data Analysis: Professional Certificate in Data Analytics
- Google Data Analysis: Professional Certificate in Data Analytics
- IBM Data Science: Professional Certificate in Python Data Science
- IBM Data Engineering Fundamentals: Python Basics for Data Science
Intermediate ⭐⭐⭐
- Harvard University Learning Python for Data Science: Introduction to Data Science with Python
- Harvard University Computer Science Courses: Using Python for Research
- IBM Python Data Science: Visualizing Data with Python
- DeepLearning.AI Data Science and Machine Learning: Deep Learning Specialization
Advanced ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- UC San Diego Data Science: Python for Data Science
- UC San Diego Data Science: Probability and Statistics in Data Science using Python
- Google Data Analysis: Professional Certificate in Advanced Data Analytics
- MIT Statistics and Data Science: Machine Learning with Python - from Linear Models to Deep Learning
- MIT Statistics and Data Science: MicroMasters® Program in Statistics and Data Science
🔎 Find Data Science Programs 👨💻 111,889 already enrolled
Disclaimer: Data Science Parichay is reader supported. When you purchase a course through a link on this site, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Earned commissions help support this website and its team of writers.
Using the "^" operator for symmetric difference
Alternatively, you can also use the ^ operator to compute symmetric differences between sets in Python. For example,
# create two sets
a = {1,2,3}
b = {2,3,4,5}
# symmetric difference
a ^ b
Output:
{1, 4, 5}
We get the same result as above.
Note that the ^ operator for the symmetric difference only works on sets whereas you can pass other iterables like lists, tuples, etc. to the set symmertic_difference() function.
You might also be interested in –
Subscribe to our newsletter for more informative guides and tutorials.
We do not spam and you can opt out any time.
