Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists

Introduction

In Python, the symmetric difference between two sets is the set of elements that are in either of the sets, but not in their intersection. In this challenge, you will write a function that takes two lists as input and returns their symmetric difference.

Skills Graph

%%%%{init: {'theme':'neutral'}}%%%% flowchart RL python(("`Python`")) -.-> python/BasicConceptsGroup(["`Basic Concepts`"]) python(("`Python`")) -.-> python/ControlFlowGroup(["`Control Flow`"]) python(("`Python`")) -.-> python/DataStructuresGroup(["`Data Structures`"]) python(("`Python`")) -.-> python/FunctionsGroup(["`Functions`"]) python(("`Python`")) -.-> python/PythonStandardLibraryGroup(["`Python Standard Library`"]) python/BasicConceptsGroup -.-> python/comments("`Comments`") python/BasicConceptsGroup -.-> python/variables_data_types("`Variables and Data Types`") python/ControlFlowGroup -.-> python/conditional_statements("`Conditional Statements`") python/ControlFlowGroup -.-> python/for_loops("`For Loops`") python/ControlFlowGroup -.-> python/list_comprehensions("`List Comprehensions`") python/DataStructuresGroup -.-> python/lists("`Lists`") python/DataStructuresGroup -.-> python/tuples("`Tuples`") python/FunctionsGroup -.-> python/function_definition("`Function Definition`") python/PythonStandardLibraryGroup -.-> python/data_collections("`Data Collections`") python/FunctionsGroup -.-> python/build_in_functions("`Build-in Functions`") subgraph Lab Skills python/comments -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/variables_data_types -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/conditional_statements -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/for_loops -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/list_comprehensions -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/lists -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/tuples -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/function_definition -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/data_collections -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} python/build_in_functions -.-> lab-13726{{"`Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists`"}} end

Symmetric Difference

Write a function symmetric_difference(a, b) that takes two lists as arguments and returns their symmetric difference as a list. The function should not filter out duplicate values.

To solve this problem, you can follow these steps:

Create a set from each list.

Use a list comprehension on each of them to only keep values not contained in the previously created set of the other.

Concatenate the two lists obtained in step 2.

def symmetric_difference(a, b): (_a, _b) = (set(a), set(b)) return [item for item in a if item not in _b] + [item for item in b if item not in _a]

symmetric_difference([1, 2, 3], [1, 2, 4]) ## [3, 4]

Symmetric Difference Between Python Lists

Introduction

Skills Graph

Symmetric Difference

Summary

Other Python Tutorials you may like