If you have a list of hashable objects (filenames would probably be strings, so they should count):
lst = ['foo.py', 'bar.py', 'baz.py', 'qux.py', Ellipsis]
you can construct the set directly:
s = set(lst)
In fact, set will work this way with any iterable object! (Isn't duck typing great?)
If you want to do it iteratively:
s = set()
for item in iterable:
s.add(item)
But there's rarely a need to do it this way. I only mention it because the set.add method is quite useful.
Top answer 1 of 8
477
If you have a list of hashable objects (filenames would probably be strings, so they should count):
lst = ['foo.py', 'bar.py', 'baz.py', 'qux.py', Ellipsis]
you can construct the set directly:
s = set(lst)
In fact, set will work this way with any iterable object! (Isn't duck typing great?)
If you want to do it iteratively:
s = set()
for item in iterable:
s.add(item)
But there's rarely a need to do it this way. I only mention it because the set.add method is quite useful.
2 of 8
30
The most direct solution is this:
s = set(filelist)
The issue in your original code is that the values weren't being assigned to the set. Here's the fixed-up version of your code:
s = set()
for filename in filelist:
s.add(filename)
print(s)
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › converting list to a set
r/learnpython on Reddit: Converting List to a Set
June 22, 2020 -
Greetings all,
I'm learning the very basics of Python and I'm trying to convert a list to a set in order to remove duplicate words in the list. That's possible, right?
What I have so far is as follows:
def remove_dups(self):
""" Return a new list in which all duplicates from the words, have been removed. """
words = ["show", "show"]
uniquewords = set(words)
print(remove_dups)
This is part of a larger code, but this last part is my problem area. The list of words is longer, but I deleted them to save space in this thread. Is my formatting wrong? I'm not able to get anything to print.
I'd greatly appreciate the help!
Top answer 1 of 2
2
remove_dups looks like a method or function, which you do not call. print(set(words)) # print the set Or: def remove_dupes(): words = ['show', 'show'] return set(words) print(remove_dupes())
2 of 2
2
Is converting the list into a set a hard-requirement? Or can we convert to another data structure, say, dictionary? If so: def remove_dupes(words): return list(dict.fromkeys(words)) print(remove_dupes(['duplicate', 'duplicate', 'unique'])) print(remove_dupes(['a', 'a', 'a', 'b', 'b', 'b', 'c', 'c', 'c'])) For the sake of the use case of removing duplicate entries, converting list to dictionary is nifty because the key:value relationship inside a dictionary will automatically remove the duplicate entries, as it tries to assign values to keys.
How to convert a set to a list in python? - Stack Overflow
Works for me on Python 2.6.6 on Linux... but that first line doesn't create a set. ... You've shadowed the set builtin. Perhaps you accidently typed set=set(first_list) or something. Now set is redefined to this set object which would cause that error. More on stackoverflow.com
Converting a set to list
Despite your "efforts" (lizst, lst), you still have a list variable in scope somewhere, shadowing the function. If you're still in that iPython session, del list will remove it and give you the builtin back. More on reddit.com
8
4
July 17, 2017Creating a list from a set
Hi Viewer, I am a newbie to Python and I am learning lists in Python. I see list() accepts an iterable to create a list. But came across the following interesting line of code, s = {1, 2, 3} l = list(s) print(l) [1, 2, 3] If my understanding is correct a set is not an iterable type. More on discuss.python.org
10
0
November 25, 2022convert set to a list type in python
because you're reassigning links every time inside the for loop. You need to define an empty list beforehand and then append to it. More on reddit.com
5
1
February 5, 2021When to use Lists, Sets, Tuples in Python? 🐍 - YouTube
07:10
Python Convert Set to List [Interactive Guide] - YouTube
01:50
Convert set to list in python tutorial - YouTube
05:10
Convert a list into set using Set function in Python - Python ...
01:39
Convert list to set in python tutorial - YouTube
15:06
Python lists, sets, and tuples explained 🍍 - YouTube
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-convert-set-into-a-list
Convert set into a list in Python - GeeksforGeeks
While it is often used for more complex transformations, it can also be used to convert a set into a list. ... Explanation: This method iterates over each item in the set and constructs a list out of it. Python’s unpacking operator * can also be used to unpack the elements of a set into a list.
Published: July 11, 2025
Top answer 1 of 9
248
It is already a list:
>>> type(my_set)
<class 'list'>
Do you want something like:
>>> my_set = set([1, 2, 3, 4])
>>> my_list = list(my_set)
>>> print(my_list)
[1, 2, 3, 4]
EDIT: Output of your last comment:
>>> my_list = [1,2,3,4]
>>> my_set = set(my_list)
>>> my_new_list = list(my_set)
>>> print(my_new_list)
[1, 2, 3, 4]
I'm wondering if you did something like this:
>>> set = set()
>>> set([1, 2])
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: 'set' object is not callable
2 of 9
16
Instead of:
first_list = [1,2,3,4]
my_set=set(first_list)
my_list = list(my_set)
Why not shortcut the process:
my_list = list(set([1,2,3,4])
This will remove the dupes from you list and return a list back to you.
Scaler
scaler.com › home › topics › convert list to set python
Convert List to Set Python - Scaler Topics
January 16, 2024 - The set() function will help us to convert a list to a set. The order of the set would be different, as a set displays the items in random order. Syntax: ... As you can see, the set only contains unique elements from the list. Note: A list can contain any data type; it can be a list of strings, ...
Python documentation
docs.python.org › 3 › tutorial › datastructures.html
5. Data Structures — Python 3.15.0 documentation
5 days ago - Curly braces or the set() function can be used to create sets.
LearnPython.com
learnpython.com › blog › add-list-to-set-in-python
Adding a List to a Set in Python: 5 Things You Must Know | LearnPython.com
September 12, 2022 - Here is a table summarizing some of the common characteristics of data structures in Python: Set items are unordered, which means the items do not have a fixed position in the set and their order can change each time you use it. List items are ordered: the position of each item is always the same. Set items are immutable, which means you cannot modify item values once the set is created. However, you can remove existing items or add new items to the set.
W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_sets.asp
Python Sets
It is also possible to use the set() constructor to make a set. ... thisset = set(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets print(thisset) Try it Yourself » · There are four collection data types in the Python programming language: List is a collection which is ordered and changeable.
FavTutor
favtutor.com › blogs › set-to-list-python
5 Ways to Convert Set to List in Python | FavTutor
September 26, 2021 - Python supports many in-built functions ... convert the python set into the list data type. You have to pass the python set inside the list() function as an argument, and the output will be the list of the same elements...
Mimo
mimo.org › glossary › python › set
Mimo: The coding platform you need to learn Web Development, Python, and more.
You can convert a Python set into a list using the list() function. Similarly, you can convert a list into a set with the Python set() function. When a list contains duplicate elements, converting it to a set removes the duplicates.
FavTutor
favtutor.com › blogs › list-to-set-python
Convert List to Set in Python | 4 Methods (With Example)
September 15, 2023 - Here's an example of a list: ... A set is an unordered collection of unique elements enclosed in curly braces ({}). It does not allow duplicate elements and does not preserve the order of insertion. Sets are useful when you need to perform membership checks or remove duplicates from a collection. Here's an example of a set: ... In Python, we have four different ways to transform a list into a set.
W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_lists.asp
Python Lists
It is also possible to use the list() constructor when creating a new list. ... thislist = list(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets print(thislist) Try it Yourself » · There are four collection data types in the Python programming language: List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members. Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate members. Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed.
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › python-set-vs-list
Python Set VS List – Sets and Lists in Python
January 5, 2023 - If you're wondering which to use, it depends on the use case. If you don’t want the values in the data to change, you can use a set. But if you want the items to change, you can use a list. You can also take into account whether the order of the items matters to you or not.
Cisco
ipcisco.com › home › python set to list
Python Set To List | List To Set | How to Convert Sets To Lists? ⋆ IpCisco
December 24, 2021 - We can also use python sortend method to convert a set to a list.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › converting a set to list
r/learnpython on Reddit: Converting a set to list
July 17, 2017 -
One problem I am trying to solve is to extract the unique items from an array into another array. I thought that I would convert the array into a set and cast it back into an array.
It works if i let a for loop run and append the items into a new list as follows:
lizst = [1,1,1,2,3,3,3,3,4,4]
def uniq(lst):
to_set = set(lst)
to_list = []
for item in to_set:
to_list.append(item)
return to_listhowever, then i tried to be more intelligent and tried this:
def uniq2(lst):
return list(set(lst))however, when I call this function as follows:
uniq2(lizst)
i get:
<ipython-input-23-2cb8fd02733f> in uniq2(lst) 1 def uniq2(lst): ----> 2 return list(set(lst)) TypeError: 'list' object is not callable
why am i getting this error? is there no list() function? how am i supposed to cast the set to a list then?
Top answer 1 of 2
7
Despite your "efforts" (lizst, lst), you still have a list variable in scope somewhere, shadowing the function. If you're still in that iPython session, del list will remove it and give you the builtin back.
2 of 2
2
My first guess is that you shadowed the builtin list somewhere earlier. Check you code for something like list = [].
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-convert-set-to-list-without-changing-order
Python Convert Set To List Without Changing Order - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - The simplest way to convert a set to a list is by using the list constructor.
Scaler
scaler.com › home › topics › convert set into a list in python
Convert Set into a List in Python - Scaler Topics
August 9, 2023 - One can define typecasting as converting the data or variable from one data structure to another for performing necessary operations per the need. Regarding Python set and list, multiple methods can be used to perform explicit type conversion, that is, in this case, to convert set to list.
Python.org
discuss.python.org › python help
Creating a list from a set - Python Help - Discussions on Python.org
November 25, 2022 - Hi Viewer, I am a newbie to Python and I am learning lists in Python. I see list() accepts an iterable to create a list. But came across the following interesting line of code, s = {1, 2, 3} l = list(s) print(l) [1, 2, 3] If my understanding is correct a set is not an iterable type.
LabEx
labex.io › tutorials › python-how-to-convert-a-python-list-to-a-set-while-preserving-the-original-order-417300
How to convert a Python list to a set while preserving the original order | LabEx
This technique is particularly useful when you need to remove duplicates from a list but maintain the order of the first occurrence of each unique element. By the end of this tutorial, you will understand the differences between lists and sets in Python and learn multiple techniques to convert a list to a set while maintaining the original order of elements.