Sets in JavaScript

Difficulty Level : Hard
Last Updated : 23 Aug, 2021

In this article, we would be discussing the Set object provided by ES6. A set is a collection of items which are unique i.e no element can be repeated. Set in ES6 are ordered: elements of the set can be iterated in the insertion order. Set can store any types of values whether primitive or objects.
Syntax:

new Set([it]);

Parameter: 
it - It is an iterable object whose all elements are 
added to the new set created, 
If the parameter is not specified or null is passed 
then a new set created is empty.

Returns:
A new set object

Now lets create some sets:
Example:

Java

// it contains
// ["sumit","amit","anil","anish"]
var set1 = new Set(["sumit","sumit","amit","anil","anish"]);
 
// it contains 'f', 'o', 'd'
var set2 = new Set("fooooooood");
 
// it contains [10, 20, 30, 40]
var set3 = new Set([10, 20, 30, 30, 40, 40]);
 
 // it is an  empty set
var set4 = new Set();

Properties:
Set.prototype.size – It returns the number of elements in the Set.
Methods:

Set.prototype.add() – It adds the new element with a specified value at the end of the Set object.
Syntax:

set1.add(val);

Parameter:
val - It is a value to be added to the set.

Returns: 
The set object

Example:

Java

// using Set.prototype.add(value)
// creating an empty set
var set1 = new Set();
 
// set contains 10, 20
set1.add(10);
set1.add(20);
 
// As this method returns
// the set object hence chanining
// of add method can be done.
set1.add(30).add(40).add(50);
 
// prints 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
console.log(set1);

Set.prototype.delete() – It deletes an element with the specified value from the Set object.
Syntax:

set1.delete(val);

Parameter:
val - It is a value to be deleted from the set.

Returns: 
true if the value is successfully deleted from the set else returns false.

Example:

Java

// using Set.prototype.delete(value)
// creating set it contains
// f, o , d, i, e
var set1 = new Set("foooodiiiieee");
 
// deleting e from the set
// it prints true
console.log(set1.delete('e'));
 
// set contains f, o, d, i
console.log(set1);
 
// deleting an element which is
// not in the set
// prints false
console.log(set1.delete('g'));

Set.prototype.clear() – It removes all the element from the set.
Syntax:

set1.clear();

Parameter:
No parameters

Returns: 
undefined

Example:

Java

// Using Set.prototype.clear()
// creating a set
var set2 = new Set([10, 20, 30, 40, 50]);
 
// prints {10, 20, 30, 40, 50}
console.log(set2);
 
// clearing set2
set2.clear()
 
// prints {}
console.log(set2);

Set.prototype.entries() – It returns an iterator object which contains an array having the entries of the set, in the insertion order.
Syntax:

set1.entries();

Parameter:
No parameters

Returns: 
It returns an iterator object that contains an
array of [value, value] for every 
element of the set, in the insertion order.

Example

Java

// Using Set.prototype.entries()
// creating set
var set1 = new Set();
 
// adding element to the set
set1.add(50);
set1.add(30);
set1.add(40);
set1.add(20);
set1.add(10);
 
// using entries to get iterator
var getEntriesArry = set1.entries();
 
// each iterator is array of [value, value]
// prints [50, 50]
console.log(getEntriesArry.next().value);
 
// prints [30, 30]
console.log(getEntriesArry.next().value);
 
// prints [40, 40]
console.log(getEntriesArry.next().value);

Set.prototype.has() – It returns true if the specified value is present in the Set object.
Syntax:

set1.has(val);

Parameter:
val - The value to be searched in the Set

Returns: 
True if the value is present else it returns false.

Example:

Java

// Using Set.prototype.has()
// creating set
var set1 = new Set();
 
// adding element to the set
set1.add(50);
set1.add(30);
             
// prints true
console.log(set1.has(50));
 
// prints false
console.log(set1.has(10));

Set.prototype.values() – It returns all the values from the Set in the same insertion order.
Syntax:

set1.values();

Parameter:
No parameters

Returns: 
An iterator object that contains all the values of the set in the same order 
as they are inserted.

Set.prototype.keys() – It also returns all the values from the Set in the insertion order.
Note: – It is similar to the values() in case of Sets
Syntax:

set1.keys();

Parameter:
No parameters

Returns: 
An iterator object that contains all the 
values of the set in the same order
as they are inserted.

Example:

Java

// Using Set.prototype.values()
// Using Set.prototype.keys()
// creating set
var set1 = new Set();
 
// adding element to the set
set1.add(50);
set1.add(30);
set1.add(40);
set1.add("Geeks");
set1.add("GFG");
 
// getting all the values
var getValues = set1.values();
 
// prints a SetIterator
// that contains {50, 30, 40, "Geeks", "GFG"}
console.log(getValues);
 
// getting all the values
var getKeys = set1.keys();
 
// prints a SetIterator
// that contains {50, 30, 40, "Geeks", "GFG"}
console.log(getKeys);

Set.prototype.forEach() – It executes the given function once for every element in the Set, in the insertion order.
Syntax:

set1.forEach(callback[,thisargument]);

Parameter:
callback - It is a function which is to be executed for each element of the Set.
thisargument - Value to be used as this when executing the callback.

Returns: 
Undefined

The callback function is provided with three parameters as follows:
- the element key
- the element value
- the Set object to be traversed

Set.prototype[@@iterator]() – It returns a Set iterator function which is values() function by default.
Syntax:

set1[Symbol.iterator]();

Parameter:
No parameters

Returns: 
A Set iterator function and it is values() by default.

Example:

Java

// using Set.prototype[@@Iterator]()
var set1 = new Set(["sumit","sumit","amit","anish"]);
 
var getit = set1[Symbol.iterator]();
 
// Printing the values in the
// iterator "getit"
 
// prints {value: "sumit", done: false}
console.log(getit.next());
 
// prints {value: "amit", done: false}
console.log(getit.next());
 
// prints {value: "anish", done: false}
console.log(getit.next());
 
// prints {value: undefined, done: true}
console.log(getit.next());

Set Operations:

subSet() – It returns true if Set A is a subset of Set B.
A Set A is said to be a subset of Set B, if all the elements of Set A is also present in Set B.
Now lets implement and use the subset function.
Example:

Java

// check whether the set on which the
// method is invoked is the subset of
// otherset or not
Set.prototype.subSet = function(otherSet)
{
    // if size of this set is greater
    // than otherSet then it can'nt be
    //  a subset
    if(this.size > otherSet.size)
        return false;
    else
    {
        for(var elem of this)
        {
            // if any of the element of
            // this is not present in the
            // otherset then return false
            if(!otherSet.has(elem))
                return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
}
 
// using the subSet function
 
// Declaring different sets
var setA = new Set([10, 20, 30]);
var setB = new Set([50, 60, 10, 20, 30, 40]);
var setC = new Set([10, 30, 40, 50]);
 
// prints true
console.log(setA.subSet(setB));
 
// prints false
console.log(setA.subSet(setC));
 
// prints true
console.log(setC.subSet(setB));

union() – It returns a Set which consists of union of Set A and Set B
A Set is said to be a union of two set, if it contains all element of Set A as well as all elements of Set B, but it does’nt contains duplicate elements.
For Example: If an element is present in both Set A and Set B then union of Set A and B will contain the single copy of the element.
Let implement and use the union function
Example:

Java

// Perform union operation between
// called set and otherSet
Set.prototype.union = function(otherSet)
{
    // creating new set to store union
    var unionSet = new Set();
 
    // iterate over the values and add
    // it to unionSet
    for (var elem of this)
    {
        unionSet.add(elem);
    }
 
    // iterate over the values and add it to
    // the unionSet
    for(var elem of otherSet)
        unionSet.add(elem);
 
    // return the values of unionSet
    return unionSet;
}
 
// using the union function
// Declaring values for set1 and set2
var set1 = new Set([10, 20, 30, 40, 50]);
var set2 = new Set([40, 50, 60, 70, 80]); 
 
// performing union operation
// and storing the resultant set in
// unionSet
var unionSet = set1.union(set2);
 
// prints [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80]
console.log(unionSet.values());

intersection() – It returns the intersection of Set A and Set B.
A Set is said to be the intersection of Set A and B if contains element which is present both in Set A and Set B.
Let implement and use the intersection function
Example:

Java

// Performs intersection operation between
// called set and otherSet
Set.prototype.intersection = function(otherSet)
{
    // creating new set to store intersection
    var intersectionSet = new Set();
 
    // Iterate over the values
    for(var elem of otherSet)
    {
        // if the other set contains a
        // similar value as of value[i]
        // then add it to intersectionSet
        if(this.has(elem))
            intersectionSet.add(elem);
    }
 
// return values of intersectionSet
return intersectionSet;               
}
// using intersection function
// Declaring values for set1 and set2
var set1 = new Set([10, 20, 30, 40, 50]);
var set2 = new Set([40, 50, 60, 70, 80]); 
 
// performing union operation
// and storing the resultant set in
// intersectionset
var intersectionSet = set1.intersection(set2);
 
// prints {40, 50}
console.log(intersectionSet.values());

difference() – It returns the Set which contains difference of Set A and Set B.
A Set is said to be a difference of Set A and B if it contains set of element e which are present in Set A but not in Set B.
Let’s implement and use the difference function
Example:

Java

// Performs difference operation between
// called set and otherSet
Set.prototype.difference = function(otherSet)
{
    // creating new set to store difference
     var differenceSet = new Set();
 
    // iterate over the values
    for(var elem of this)
    {
        // if the value[i] is not present
        // in otherSet add to the differenceSet
        if(!otherSet.has(elem))
            differenceSet.add(elem);
    }
 
    // returns values of differenceSet
    return differenceSet;
}
 
// using difference function
// Declaring values for set1 and set2
var set1 = new Set([10, 20, 30, 40, 50]);
var set2 = new Set([40, 50, 60, 70, 80]); 
 
// performing union operation
// and storing the resultant set in
// intersectionset
var differenceSet = set1.difference(set2);
 
// prints {10, 20, 30}
console.log(differenceSet);

Reference:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Set
This article is contributed by Sumit Ghosh. If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using write.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to review-team@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.
Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.

JavaScript is best known for web page development but it is also used in a variety of non-browser environments. You can learn JavaScript from the ground up by following this JavaScript Tutorial and JavaScript Examples.

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