Python | Check if two lists have any element in common

Sometimes we encounter the problem of checking if one list contains any element of another list. This kind of problem is quite popular in competitive programming. Let’s discuss various ways to achieve this particular task.

Method #1: Using any() 

Python3

# Python code to check if two lists
# have any element in common

# Initialization of list
list1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 55]
list2 = [2, 3, 90, 22]

# using any function
out = any(check in list1 for check in list2)

# Checking condition
if out:
    print("True")
else :
    print("False")

Output:

True

Method #2: Using in operator. 

Python3

# Python code to check if two lists
# have any element in common

# Initialization of list
list1 = [1, 3, 4, 55]
list2 = [90, 22]

flag = 0

# Using in to check element of
# second list into first list
for elem in list2:
    if elem in list1:
        flag = 1

# checking condition
if flag == 1:
    print("True")
else :
    print("False")

Output:

False

Method#3: Using set()

Python3

# Python code to check if two lists
# have any element in common

# Initialization of list
list1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 55]
list2 = [2, 3, 90, 22]

# using set
out = set(list1) & set(list2)

# Checking condition
if out:
    print("True")
else :
    print("False")

Output

True