“What is the purpose of the set function in Python?”

In Python, the set() function is used to create a collection that is unordered and does not contain duplicate elements. Its main purposes include:

1. Remove duplicate elements: By passing a list, string, or any other iterable object as a parameter to the set() function, a set containing only unique elements will be returned, eliminating any duplicate elements from the original object.
2. Set operations: The set() function can be used to perform set operations, such as finding the union, intersection, difference, and other operations between two sets. These set operations make it easy to manipulate and calculate sets.
3. To check if an element is in a set, you can use the ‘in’ keyword. Since sets are implemented based on hash tables, the complexity of checking if an element belongs to a set is O(1), making it very efficient.

In conclusion, the set() function in Python is primarily used for creating sets, removing duplicate elements, and performing set operations.