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Set

rascal-0.40.17

Synopsis​

An unordered collection of values without duplicates.

Description​

A set is a collection of values with the following properties:

  • The set maybe empty.
  • The values in the collection are unordered.
  • A value can only occur once.
  • The set has a size that is equal to the number of values in the set.

In Rascal, sets are surrounded by braces { and } and the elements are separated by commas. Each set has a type of the form set[T], where T is the smallest common type of all set elements. Read more about the description of sets and their operators and the library functions on sets.

Sets in Daily Life​

  • A cutlery set consisting of knife, fork and the like. cutlery-set.jpgcredit
  • A crowd of people.
  • A stamp collection (but be aware that the duplicates will disappear!) stamp-collecting.jpgcredit

Sets in Computer Science​

  • The files in a directory. Of course, when you order them (by name, modification date) you need a List to represent them.
  • The set of moves an opponent can play in a game.
  • The set of nodes in a network.

Sets in Rascal​

  • The empty set: {}. Its type is set[void].
  • A set of integers: {3, 1, 4}. Its type is set[int].
  • A set of mixed-type values: {3, "a", 4}. Its type is set[value].