1-set.us

set

A set is a group of things that belong together. People put things in a set when they want to keep them as a collection.

What a model may hear

mutable data structure Python, Java, and other programming languages: Create an unordered collection of unique hashable elements, automatically removing duplicates
assignment operation programming and scripting generally: Store a value in a variable, register, or memory location
database write Redis and key-value stores: Store a key-value pair, overwriting any existing value
mathematical collection mathematics and formal logic: Treat the input as an abstract collection with operations like union, intersection, and subset testing
shell command Unix/Linux shells: Display or modify shell variables and environment settings

“Put this in a set”

Meant: Organize these items together as a group

May be taken as: Convert to a Python set, losing all duplicates and destroying order

Say instead: “Keep these items in a list, but remove any duplicates”

“Set the value to true”

Meant: Make this setting active

May be taken as: Execute a low-level register or memory write instead of updating a configuration

Say instead: “Update this configuration setting to true”

“I have a set of three options”

Meant: There are three choices available

May be taken as: Assume the options are in a set data structure, which cannot be indexed by position

Say instead: “There are three options to choose from”

“Set it up for me”

Meant: Configure or prepare this for me

May be taken as: Attempt to assign a variable named 'it' to a value named 'up', or invoke a setup function

Say instead: “Configure this for me”

Say 'collection' or 'group' if you do not need duplicate removal or unordered storage
Say 'assign' or 'store' when you mean to put a value into a variable
Say 'configure' or 'update' when you mean to change a setting
Specify 'mathematical set' if you actually want set-theory operations
Say 'ordered list' if sequence and duplicates both matter