
Data Structure

This illustrates a data structure, a means of storing data within a program.

You may see other such structures in the Data Structures category.
A   set  is a collection of elements, without duplicates and without order.



Task

Show each of these set operations:

 Set creation
 Test m ∈ S -- "m is an element in set S"
 A ∪ B -- union; a set of all elements either in set A or in set B.
 A ∩ B -- intersection; a set of all elements in both set A and set B.
 A ∖ B -- difference; a set of all elements in set A, except those in set B.
 A ⊆ B -- subset; true if every element in set A is also in set B.
 A = B -- equality; true if every element of set A is in set B and vice versa.


As an option, show some other set operations.

(If A ⊆ B, but A ≠ B, then A is called a true or proper subset of B, written A ⊂ B or A ⊊ B.)

As another option, show how to modify a mutable set.



One might implement a set using an associative array (with set elements as array keys and some dummy value as the values).

One might also implement a set with a binary search tree, or with a hash table, or with an ordered array of binary bits (operated on with bit-wise binary operators).

The basic test, m ∈ S, is O(n) with a sequential list of elements, O(log n) with a balanced binary search tree, or (O(1) average-case, O(n) worst case) with a hash table.



See also

 Array
 Associative array: Creation, Iteration
 Collections
 Compound data type
 Doubly-linked list: Definition, Element definition, Element insertion, List Traversal, Element Removal
 Linked list
 Queue: Definition, Usage
 Set
 Singly-linked list: Element definition, Element insertion, List Traversal, Element Removal
 Stack


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
 
class Program
{
    static void PrintCollection(IEnumerable<int> x)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(string.Join(" ", x));
    }
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
        Console.WriteLine("Set creation");
        var A = new HashSet<int> { 4, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 };
        var B = new HashSet<int> { 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20 };
 
        PrintCollection(A);
        PrintCollection(B);
 
        Console.WriteLine("Test m ∈ S -- \"m is an element in set S\"");
        Console.WriteLine("14 is an element in set A: {0}", A.Contains(14));
        Console.WriteLine("15 is an element in set A: {0}", A.Contains(15));
 
        Console.WriteLine("A ∪ B -- union; a set of all elements either in set A or in set B.");
        var aUb = A.Union(B);
        PrintCollection(aUb);
 
        Console.WriteLine("A ∖ B -- difference; a set of all elements in set A, except those in set B.");
        var aDb = A.Except(B);
        PrintCollection(aDb);
 
        Console.WriteLine("A ⊆ B -- subset; true if every element in set A is also in set B.");
        Console.WriteLine(A.IsSubsetOf(B));
        var C = new HashSet<int> { 14, 17, 18 };
        Console.WriteLine(C.IsSubsetOf(A));
 
        Console.WriteLine("A = B -- equality; true if every element of set A is in set B and vice versa.");
        Console.WriteLine(A.SetEquals(B));
        var D = new HashSet<int> { 4, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 };
        Console.WriteLine(A.SetEquals(D));
 
        Console.WriteLine("If A ⊆ B, but A ≠ B, then A is called a true or proper subset of B, written A ⊂ B or A ⊊ B");
        Console.WriteLine(A.IsProperSubsetOf(B));
        Console.WriteLine(C.IsProperSubsetOf(A));
 
        Console.WriteLine("Modify a mutable set.  (Add 10 to A; remove 12 from B).");
        A.Add(10);
        B.Remove(12);
        PrintCollection(A);
        PrintCollection(B);
 
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}