Python

Copy method in set

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Copy method in set - Python

This method is used to create a copy of a set.

It creates a shallow copy of the set which means when we modify the original set it will not affect the copied set.

this method iterates through each element of the original set and adds reference to the copied set.

The copy method doesn’t take any argument.

The return value of the copy method is a shallow copy of the original object(set).

We can also create a copy of a set using the assignment operator(=) but there is a disadvantage with this method.

When we create a copy using the assignment operator then when we modify the original set it will affect the copied set.

Syntax – let’s see the syntax

original_set.copy()

Example1 – let’s see an example

				
					original_set={1,2,3,4,5}
print("Original set:",original_set)
copied_set=original_set.copy()
print("Copied set:",copied_set)

# Output -
# Original set: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
# Copied set: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

In the above example first, we create a set original_set with elements 1,2,3,4,5.

After creating original_set print the original_set on the output screen.

Then we create a copy of the original_set using the copy method and store the copy in the variable copied_set.

Then print the copied set on the output screen.

Example 2-

				
					s={'hello','this', 'is', 'edSlash'}
print("original set:",s)
s1=s.copy()
print("Copied set:",s1)
s.remove('hello')
print("Copied set after modifying original set:",s1)
print("Modified original set:",s)

# Output -
# original set: {'hello', 'this', 'is', 'edSlash'}
# Copied set: {'hello', 'this', 'is', 'edSlash'}
# Copied set after modifying original set: {'hello', 'this', 'is', 'edSlash'}
# Modified original set: {'this', 'is', 'edSlash'}

Create a copy of the set using the assignment operator(=) –

Example 3-

				
					s={'a','b','c','d','e','f'}
s1=s
print(s)
print(s1)
s.add('g')
print(s)
print(s1)

# Output - 
# original set: {'f', 'd', 'b', 'a', 'c', 'e'}
# copied set: {'f', 'd', 'b', 'a', 'c', 'e'}
# Modified original set: {'f', 'd', 'g', 'b', 'a', 'c', 'e'}
# Copied set: {'f', 'd', 'g', 'b', 'a', 'c', 'e'}

In the above example, we can see that when we modify the original set the changes affect both the set.

this is because we can’t create a new set Instead of creating a new set we create a reference of variables that store the original set that’s why changes affect both sets.

Example 4- Let’s see what happens when we try to give an argument to copy method

				
					s={11,111,1111,11111,111111}
print(s)
s.copy(11)

# Output -
# {111111, 1111, 11111, 11, 111}
# Traceback (most recent call last):
  # File "/home/main.py", line 3, in <module>
    # s.copy(11)
# TypeError: set.copy() takes no arguments (1 given)

Example 5-

				
					s={'CSE','IT','EC','EE','ME'}
s1=s2=s.copy()
print("original set:",s)
print("Copied set 1:",s1)
print("Copied set 2:",s2)

# Output -
# original set: {'EE', 'EC', 'CSE', 'ME', 'IT'}
# Copied set 1: {'EE', 'EC', 'CSE', 'ME', 'IT'}
# Copied set 2: {'EE', 'EC', 'CSE', 'ME', 'IT'}

Python

Copy method in set

Copy method in set - Python

Create a copy of the set using the assignment operator(=) –

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