Unlock the Power of Sets in Swift

What is a Set?

A set is a collection of unique data elements, meaning no duplicates are allowed. Imagine storing student IDs – each ID must be unique, making a set the perfect data structure for this task.

Creating a Set in Swift

To create a set in Swift, use the Set keyword followed by the type of elements the set will hold. For example, let studentID: Set<Int> = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Note that the order of elements in a set is not guaranteed, so you may see a different output when running this code.

Adding Elements to a Set

To add an element to a set, use the insert() method. For instance, employeeID.insert(32) adds the element 32 to the employeeID set.

Removing Elements from a Set

Use the remove() method to remove a specific element from a set. You can also use removeFirst() to remove the first element, or removeAll() to clear the entire set.

Exploring Other Set Methods

Swift sets offer several useful methods:

  • Iterate Over a Set: Use a for loop to iterate over the elements of a set.
  • Find Number of Set Elements: Use the count property to get the number of elements in a set.

Swift Set Operations

Sets in Swift support various mathematical operations:

Union of Two Sets

The union of two sets combines all elements from both sets. Use the union() method, like setA.union(setB).

Intersection between Two Sets

The intersection of two sets contains only the common elements. Use the intersection() method, like setA.intersection(setB).

Difference between Two Sets

The difference between two sets includes elements from the first set that are not in the second. Use the subtracting() method, like setA.subtracting(setB).

Symmetric Difference between Two Sets

The symmetric difference includes all elements from both sets, excluding common elements. Use the symmetricDifference() method, like setA.symmetricDifference(setB).

Check Subset of a Set

Use the isSubset() method to check if one set is a subset of another.

Check if Two Sets are Equal

Use the == operator to compare two sets for equality.

Creating an Empty Set

You can create an empty set in Swift by specifying the data type, like let emptySet: Set<Int> = []. Note that you must specify the data type inside <> followed by an initializer syntax ().

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