# set (1-set.us)

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

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "Put this in a set"
  Means: 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"
- Says: "Set the value to true"
  Means: 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"
- Says: "I have a set of three options"
  Means: 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"
- Says: "Set it up for me"
  Means: 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"

## Tips
- 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

## Often confused with
- list: ordered, allows duplicates, indexable
- array: fixed-size, indexed, often homogeneous
- dict: maps keys to values, not just elements
- tuple: immutable, ordered, allows duplicates
- assign: only stores a value, no collection meaning
- configure: only changes settings, no data structure meaning