What does this code do?
This code snippet finds the common elements between two lists, a
and b
, using sets. Let's break it down step by step:
- Initialization: Two lists,
a
andb
, are initialized with numerical values. - Set Conversion: Both lists are converted into sets using
set(a)
andset(b)
. Sets are unordered collections of unique elements. This conversion is crucial for efficient intersection finding. - Intersection: The
&
operator performs a set intersection. It returns a new set containing only the elements that are present in bothset(a)
andset(b)
. In this case, the common elements 2 and 3 are identified. - Result: The resulting set
c
contains the common elements [2, 3].
In essence, this code demonstrates a concise way to find the intersection of two lists using Python's set operations. This approach is more efficient than iterating through each list individually, especially for larger lists, because set operations are optimized for this type of task.