XOR Operation Between Sets in Java

10 Sept 2024 | 3 min read

The XOR operation, also known as the exclusive OR operation, is a logical operation commonly used in programming. It returns true if and only if exactly one of the operands is true. In Java, the XOR operation can be applied to sets, allowing us to perform various set operations efficiently. In this section, we will explore how to perform the XOR operation between sets in Java.

In Java, a set is an unordered collection of unique elements. The java.util.Set interface provides the foundation for implementing sets in Java. It has several implementations, such as HashSet, TreeSet, and LinkedHashSet, each with its own characteristics.

To perform the XOR operation between sets, we need two sets to work with. Let's assume we have two sets, set1 and set2, both containing elements of the same type.

Now, let's populate these sets with some elements:

To compute the XOR operation between these two sets, we can create a new set and iterate over the elements of set1 and set2. For each element, we check if it exists in the other set. If it does not exist in the other set, we add it to the new set. After iterating over both sets, the new set will contain the elements that are unique to either set1 or set2 but not present in both.

Here's a sample implementation of the XOR operation between sets in Java:

In the code snippet above, we start by creating a new HashSet called xorSet and initializing it with the elements of set1. Then, we iterate over the elements of set2. If an element exists in xorSet, we remove it since it's present in both sets. If the element doesn't exist in xorSet, we add it since it's unique to either set1 or set2.

After executing this code, the xorSet will contain the result of the XOR operation between set1 and set2.

The XOR operation between sets can also be achieved using the addAll and removeAll methods provided by the Set interface. Here's an alternative implementation:

In this implementation, we start with xorSet initialized with the elements of set1. Then, we add all the elements from set2 to xorSet. Finally, we remove the elements that are common to both set1 and set2 from xorSet, resulting in the XOR operation between the two sets.

In conclusion, the XOR operation between sets in Java can be performed by creating a new set and iterating over the elements of the two sets, adding or removing elements based on their presence in the other set. The examples provided in this article demonstrate two different approaches to achieving the XOR operation between sets in Java.

Here's a complete Java program that performs the XOR operation between sets and includes comments explaining each step. The program uses the HashSet implementation of the Set interface.

XorOperationBetweenSets.java

Output:

XOR Set:
1
4

In this program, we create two sets set1 and set2 and populate them with integer elements. The XOR operation is performed between set1 and set2, and the result is stored in the xorSet. Finally, we iterate over the elements of xorSet and print them.

In the given example, the XOR set contains the elements 1 and 4 because they are unique to either set1 or set2 but not present in both sets.

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