What data type would you use to represent a collection of unique items?

What data type would you use to represent a collection of unique items?

• A. list
• B. dictionary
• C. set
• D. tuple

Answer: (C)

The data type that is used to represent a collection of unique items is a set. Sets in Python are specifically designed to store multiple items in a single variable with the key characteristic that each item must be distinct. This means that if you try to add a duplicate item to a set, it will not be included again, thereby maintaining the uniqueness of the items within the collection. Sets are also unordered, which means that the items do not have a defined order, and you cannot access items in a set by an index. They are commonly used when the focus is on membership testing or removing duplicates from a collection. The operations that can be performed on sets, such as unions, intersections, and differences, make them a powerful choice for working with unique collections. In contrast, lists and tuples allow for duplicate entries and are ordered collections, while dictionaries are key-value pairs and do not directly represent a simple collection of unique items. This makes sets the most suitable choice for the scenario described in the question.

The data type that is used to represent a collection of unique items is a set. Sets in Python are specifically designed to store multiple items in a single variable with the key characteristic that each item must be distinct. This means that if you try to add a duplicate item to a set, it will not be included again, thereby maintaining the uniqueness of the items within the collection.

Sets are also unordered, which means that the items do not have a defined order, and you cannot access items in a set by an index. They are commonly used when the focus is on membership testing or removing duplicates from a collection. The operations that can be performed on sets, such as unions, intersections, and differences, make them a powerful choice for working with unique collections.

In contrast, lists and tuples allow for duplicate entries and are ordered collections, while dictionaries are key-value pairs and do not directly represent a simple collection of unique items. This makes sets the most suitable choice for the scenario described in the question.