Index of minimum values in a set

Question

I am new to Python and I am looking for clarification regarding sets. If I have a set of numbers, does the set always store the values inside it in ascending order? I wrote a quick example program

x = set()
x.add(1)
x.add(2)
x.add(0)
x.add(20)
x.add(3)
x.add(4)

print(x)

I got the output to be {0,1,2,3,4,20}.

If that's the case then the minimum value will always be on the 0 index and the maximum value on the last index. But if that's not the case, then is there a way to get the index where the minimum/maximum value might be?

no, sets are unordered collections. – Reblochon Masque May 29 '18 at 05:33 — Reblochon Masque, May 29 '18 at 05:33
sets don't have indexing so that makes no sense. – Julien May 29 '18 at 05:33 — Julien, May 29 '18 at 05:33

ndmeiri · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-29T05:40:03.837

A set, in the mathematical sense, is an unordered collection. In Python, sets are also unordered. So asking about the index of an element or an ordering of elements in a set is invalid.

However, it is possible to find the minimum and maximum values in a set of integers:

# Build the set.
myset = set([1, 2, 0, 20, 3, 4])
# Print the minimum and maximum values.
print(min(myset))
print(max(myset))

If an ordered dictionary is acceptable for your use case, take a look at OrderedDict.

An OrderedDict is a dict that remembers the order that keys were first inserted. If a new entry overwrites an existing entry, the original insertion position is left unchanged. Deleting an entry and reinserting it will move it to the end.

Thanks a lot. I was just confused how sets work in python I guess. That clears some of my doubts. — MrJonesIsCountingCrows, May 29 '18 at 13:31

Index of minimum values in a set

1 Answers1