Symmetric difference

Symmetric difference
You are encouraged to solve this task according to the task description, using any language you may know.

Given two sets A and B, compute ${\displaystyle (A\setminus B)\cup (B\setminus A).}$

That is, enumerate the items that are in A or B but not both. This set is called the symmetric difference of A and B.

In other words: ${\displaystyle (A\cup B)\setminus (A\cap B)}$ (the set of items that are in at least one of A or B minus the set of items that are in both A and B).

Optionally, give the individual differences (${\displaystyle A\setminus B}$ and ${\displaystyle B\setminus A}$) as well.

Test cases
```A = {John, Bob, Mary, Serena}
B = {Jim, Mary, John, Bob}
```

Notes
1. If your code uses lists of items to represent sets then ensure duplicate items in lists are correctly handled. For example two lists representing sets of `a = ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]` and `b = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]` should produce the result of just two strings: `["Serena", "Jim"]`, in any order.
2. In the mathematical notation above `A \ B` gives the set of items in A that are not in B; `A ∪ B` gives the set of items in both A and B, (their union); and `A ∩ B` gives the set of items that are in both A and B (their intersection).

Ada has the lattice operation xor predefined on Boolean, modular types, 1D arrays, set implementations from the standard library. The provided solution uses arrays:

`with Ada.Text_IO;  use Ada.Text_IO; procedure Test_XOR is   type Person is (John, Bob, Mary, Serena, Jim);   type Group is array (Person) of Boolean;   procedure Put (Set : Group) is      First : Boolean := True;   begin      for I in Set'Range loop         if Set (I) then            if First then               First := False;            else               Put (',');            end if;            Put (Person'Image (I));         end if;      end loop;   end Put;    A : Group := (John | Bob | Mary | Serena => True, others => False);   B : Group := (Jim | Mary | John | Bob    => True, others => False);   begin   Put ("A xor B = "); Put (A xor B);     New_Line;   Put ("A - B   = "); Put (A and not B); New_Line;   Put ("B - A   = "); Put (B and not A); New_Line;end Test_XOR;`

Sample output:

```A xor B = SERENA,JIM
A - B   = SERENA
B - A   = JIM
```

Aime

`voidshow_sdiff(record u, record x){    record r;    text s;     r_copy(r, u);     if (r_first(x, s)) {        do {            if (r_key(r, s)) {                r_delete(r, s);            } else {                r_p_integer(r, s, 0);            }        } while (rsk_greater(x, s, s));    }     if (r_first(r, s)) {        do {            o_text(s);            o_byte('\n');        } while (rsk_greater(r, s, s));    }} recordnew_set(...){    integer i;    record r;     i = 0;    while (i < count()) {        r_p_integer(r, \$i, 0);        i += 1;    }     return r;} integermain(void){    show_sdiff(new_set("John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"),               new_set("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"));     return 0;}`
Output:
```Jim
Serena```

Apex

`Set<String> setA = new Set<String>{'John', 'Bob', 'Mary', 'Serena'};Set<String> setB = new Set<String>{'Jim', 'Mary', 'John', 'Bob'}; // Option 1Set<String> notInSetA = setB.clone();notInSetA.removeAll(setA); Set<String> notInSetB = setA.clone();notInSetB.removeAll(setB); Set<String> symmetricDifference = new Set<String>();symmetricDifference.addAll(notInSetA);symmetricDifference.addAll(notInSetB); // Option 2Set<String> union = setA.clone();union.addAll(setB); Set<String> intersection = setA.clone();intersection.retainAll(setB); Set<String> symmetricDifference2 = union.clone();symmetricDifference2.removeAll(intersection); System.debug('Not in set A: ' + notInSetA);System.debug('Not in set B: ' + notInSetB);System.debug('Symmetric Difference: ' + symmetricDifference);System.debug('Symmetric Difference 2: ' + symmetricDifference2);`
Output:
```Not in set A: {Jim}
Not in set B: {Serena}
Symmetric Difference: {Jim, Serena}
Symmetric Difference 2: {Jim, Serena}```

AppleScript

Translation of: JavaScript
(ES6 Functional JS)
`-- SYMMETRIC DIFFERENCE ------------------------------------------- -- symmetricDifference :: [a] -> [a] -> [a]on symmetricDifference(xs, ys)    union(difference(xs, ys), difference(ys, xs))end symmetricDifference -- TEST -----------------------------------------------------------on run    set a to ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]    set b to ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]     symmetricDifference(a, b)     -->  {"Serena", "Jim"}end run  -- GENERIC FUNCTIONS ---------------------------------------------- -- delete :: Eq a => a -> [a] -> [a]on |delete|(x, xs)    set mbIndex to elemIndex(x, xs)    set lng to length of xs     if mbIndex is not missing value then        if lng > 1 then            if mbIndex = 1 then                items 2 thru -1 of xs            else if mbIndex = lng then                items 1 thru -2 of xs            else                tell xs to items 1 thru (mbIndex - 1) & ¬                    items (mbIndex + 1) thru -1            end if        else            {}        end if    else        xs    end ifend |delete| -- difference :: [a] -> [a] -> [a]on difference(xs, ys)    script        on |λ|(a, y)            if a contains y then                my |delete|(y, a)            else                a            end if        end |λ|    end script     foldl(result, xs, ys)end difference -- elemIndex :: a -> [a] -> Maybe Inton elemIndex(x, xs)    set lng to length of xs    repeat with i from 1 to lng        if x = (item i of xs) then return i    end repeat    return missing valueend elemIndex -- foldl :: (a -> b -> a) -> a -> [b] -> aon foldl(f, startValue, xs)    tell mReturn(f)        set v to startValue        set lng to length of xs        repeat with i from 1 to lng            set v to |λ|(v, item i of xs, i, xs)        end repeat        return v    end tellend foldl -- Lift 2nd class handler function into 1st class script wrapper -- mReturn :: Handler -> Scripton mReturn(f)    if class of f is script then        f    else        script            property |λ| : f        end script    end ifend mReturn -- nub :: [a] -> [a]on nub(xs)    if (length of xs) > 1 then        set x to item 1 of xs        [x] & nub(|delete|(x, items 2 thru -1 of xs))    else        xs    end ifend nub -- union :: [a] -> [a] -> [a]on union(xs, ys)    script flipDelete        on |λ|(xs, x)            my |delete|(x, xs)        end |λ|    end script     set sx to nub(xs)    sx & foldl(flipDelete, nub(ys), sx)end union`
Output:
`{"Serena", "Jim"}`

AutoHotkey

`setA = John, Bob, Mary, SerenasetB = Jim, Mary, John, BobMsgBox,, Singles, % SymmetricDifference(setA, setB) setA = John, Serena, Bob, Mary, SerenasetB = Jim, Mary, John, Jim, BobMsgBox,, Duplicates, % SymmetricDifference(setA, setB) ;---------------------------------------------------------------------------SymmetricDifference(A, B) { ; returns the symmetric difference of A and B;---------------------------------------------------------------------------    StringSplit, A_, A, `,, %A_Space%    Loop, %A_0%        If Not InStr(B, A_%A_Index%)        And Not InStr(Result, A_%A_Index%)            Result .= A_%A_Index% ", "    StringSplit, B_, B, `,, %A_Space%    Loop, %B_0%        If Not InStr(A, B_%A_Index%)        And Not InStr(Result, B_%A_Index%)            Result .= B_%A_Index% ", "    Return, SubStr(Result, 1, -2)}`

Message boxes show:

```Singles
---------------------------
Serena, Jim

OK```
```Duplicates
---------------------------
Serena, Jim

OK```

AWK

` # syntax: GAWK -f SYMMETRIC_DIFFERENCE.AWKBEGIN {    load("John,Bob,Mary,Serena",A)    load("Jim,Mary,John,Bob",B)    show("A \\ B",A,B)    show("B \\ A",B,A)    printf("symmetric difference: ")    for (i in C) {      if (!(i in A && i in B)) {        printf("%s ",i)      }    }    printf("\n")    exit(0)}function load(str,arr,  i,n,temp) {    n = split(str,temp,",")    for (i=1; i<=n; i++) {      arr[temp[i]]      C[temp[i]]    }}function show(str,a,b,  i) {    printf("%s: ",str)    for (i in a) {      if (!(i in b)) {        printf("%s ",i)      }    }    printf("\n")} `

output:

```A \ B: Serena
B \ A: Jim
symmetric difference: Serena Jim
```

BBC BASIC

Here sets are represented as integers, hence there are a maximum of 32 elements in a set.

`      DIM list\$(4)      list\$() = "Bob", "Jim", "John", "Mary", "Serena"       setA% = %11101      PRINT "Set A: " FNlistset(list\$(), setA%)      setB% = %01111      PRINT "Set B: " FNlistset(list\$(), setB%)       REM Compute symmetric difference:      setC% = setA% EOR setB%      PRINT '"Symmetric difference: " FNlistset(list\$(), setC%)       REM Optional:      PRINT "Set A \ Set B: " FNlistset(list\$(), setA% AND NOT setB%)      PRINT "Set B \ Set A: " FNlistset(list\$(), setB% AND NOT setA%)      END       DEF FNlistset(list\$(), set%)      LOCAL i%, o\$      FOR i% = 0 TO 31        IF set% AND 1 << i% o\$ += list\$(i%) + ", "      NEXT      = LEFT\$(LEFT\$(o\$))`

Output:

```Set A: Bob, John, Mary, Serena
Set B: Bob, Jim, John, Mary

Symmetric difference: Jim, Serena
Set A \ Set B: Serena
Set B \ Set A: Jim
```

Bracmat

Walk through the concatenation of the two lists, using backtracking (forced by the ~ operator). If an element is in both lists, or if the element already is in the accumulated result `symdiff`, continue. Otherwise add the element to `symdiff`. When all elements are done and backtracking therefore finally fails, return the contents of `symdiff`. The flag `%` in the pattern `%@?x` ensures that only nontrivial elements (i.e. non-empty strings in this case) are matched. The `@` flag ensures that at most one string is matched. Together these flags ensure that exactly one element is matched.

`(SymmetricDifference=  A B x symdiff.   !arg:(?A.?B)  & :?symdiff  & (   !A !B      :   ?          ( %@?x          & ( !A:? !x ?&!B:? !x ?            | !symdiff:? !x ?            | !symdiff !x:?symdiff            )          & ~          )          ?    | !symdiff    ));`

Run:

`SymmetricDifference\$(john serena bob mary serena.jim mary john jim bob)`

Output:

`serena jim`

C

Simple method:

`#include <stdio.h>#include <string.h> const char *A[] = { "John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena" };const char *B[] = { "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob" }; #define LEN(x) sizeof(x)/sizeof(x[0]) /* null duplicate items */void uniq(const char *x[], int len){	int i, j;	for (i = 0; i < len; i++)		for (j = i + 1; j < len; j++)			if (x[j] && x[i] && !strcmp(x[i], x[j])) x[j] = 0;} int in_set(const char *const x[], int len, const char *match){	int i;	for (i = 0; i < len; i++)		if (x[i] && !strcmp(x[i], match))			return 1;	return 0;} /* x - y */void show_diff(const char *const x[], int lenx, const char *const y[], int leny){	int i;	for (i = 0; i < lenx; i++)		if (x[i] && !in_set(y, leny, x[i]))			printf("  %s\n", x[i]);} /* X ^ Y */void show_sym_diff(const char *const x[], int lenx, const char *const y[], int leny){	show_diff(x, lenx, y, leny);	show_diff(y, leny, x, lenx);} int main(){	uniq(A, LEN(A));	uniq(B, LEN(B));	printf("A \\ B:\n"); show_diff(A, LEN(A), B, LEN(B));	printf("\nB \\ A:\n"); show_diff(B, LEN(B), A, LEN(A));	printf("\nA ^ B:\n");  show_sym_diff(A, LEN(A), B, LEN(B)); 	return 0;}`
output
```A \ B:
Serena

B \ A:
Jim

A ^ B:
Serena
Jim
```

If you prefer something elaborate:

`#include <assert.h>#include <stdio.h>#include <string.h>#include <stdlib.h> const char *mary="Mary";const char *bob="Bob";const char *jim="Jim";const char *john="John";const char *serena="Serena"; const char *setA[] = {john,bob,mary,serena};const char *setB[] = {jim,mary,john,bob}; #define XSET(j)  j, (sizeof(j)/sizeof(*j))#define TALLOC(n,typ) malloc(n*sizeof(typ)) typedef enum {    esdDIFFERENCE,    esdSYMMETRIC } EsdFunction;/** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * return value is difference or symmetric difference set *    its size is returned in sym_size *    f determinse whether it is a symmetric difference, or normal difference * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **/const char ** symmdiff( int *sym_size, EsdFunction f, const char *setA[], int setAsize, const char *setB[], int setBsize){    int union_size;    int max_union_size;    int diff_size;    const char **union_set;    const char **diff_set;    int *union_xor;    int ix, ixu;     max_union_size = setAsize + setBsize;    union_set = TALLOC(max_union_size, const char *);    union_xor = TALLOC(max_union_size, int);     /* I'm assuming here that setA has no duplicates,      * i.e. is a set in mathematical sense */    for (ix=0; ix<setAsize; ix++) {        union_set[ix] = setA[ix];        union_xor[ix] = 1;    }    diff_size = union_size = setAsize;    for (ix=0; ix<setBsize; ix++) {        for (ixu=0; ixu<union_size; ixu++) {            if (union_set[ixu] == setB[ix]) break;        }        if (ixu < union_size) {	/* already in union */            union_xor[ixu] = 1-union_xor[ixu];            diff_size--;        }        else {		/* not already in union -add */            if (f == esdSYMMETRIC) {                union_set[ixu] = setB[ix];                union_xor[ixu] = 1;                union_size++;                diff_size++;            }        }    }    /* Put results in symdiff set */    diff_set = TALLOC(diff_size, const char *);    ix = 0;    for (ixu=0; ixu<union_size; ixu++) {        if (union_xor[ixu]) {            if (ix == diff_size) {                printf("Short of space in diff_set\n");                exit(1);            }            diff_set[ix] = union_set[ixu];            ix++;        }    }    *sym_size = diff_size;    free(union_xor);    free(union_set);    return diff_set;} /* isSet tests that elements of list are unique, that is, that the list is a * mathematical set.  The uniqueness test implemented here is strcmp. */int isSet(const char *list[], int lsize){    int i, j;    const char *e;    if (lsize == 0) {        return 1;    }    for (i = lsize-1; i>0; i--) {        e = list[i];        for (j = i-1; j>=0; j--) {            if (strcmp(list[j], e) == 0) {                return 0;            }        }    }    return 1;} void printSet (const char *set[], int ssize){    int ix;    printf(" = {");    for (ix=0;ix<ssize; ix++) {        printf( "%s ", set[ix]);    }    printf("}\n");} int main(){    const char **symset;    int sysize;     /* Validate precondition stated by task, that inputs are sets. */    assert(isSet(XSET(setA)));    assert(isSet(XSET(setB)));     printf ("A symmdiff B");    symset = symmdiff( &sysize, esdSYMMETRIC, XSET(setA), XSET(setB));    printSet(symset, sysize);    free(symset);    printf ("A - B");    symset = symmdiff( &sysize, esdDIFFERENCE, XSET(setA), XSET(setB));    printSet(symset, sysize);    printf ("B - A");    symset = symmdiff( &sysize, esdDIFFERENCE, XSET(setB), XSET(setA));    printSet(symset, sysize);    free(symset);     return 0;}`

Output

``` A symmdiff B = {Serena Jim }
A - B = {Serena }
B - A = {Jim }
```

C#

`using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq; namespace RosettaCode.SymmetricDifference{    public static class IEnumerableExtension    {        public static IEnumerable<T> SymmetricDifference<T>(this IEnumerable<T> @this, IEnumerable<T> that)        {            return @this.Except(that).Concat(that.Except(@this));        }    }     class Program    {        static void Main()        {            var a = new[] { "John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena" };            var b = new[] { "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob" };             foreach (var element in a.SymmetricDifference(b))            {                Console.WriteLine(element);            }        }    }}`

Output:

```Serena
Jim
```

C++

`#include <iostream>#include <set>#include <algorithm>#include <iterator>#include <string> using namespace std; int main( ) {   string setA[] = { "John", "Bob" , "Mary", "Serena" };   string setB[] = { "Jim" , "Mary", "John", "Bob"  };   set<string>        firstSet( setA , setA + 4 ),       secondSet( setB , setB + 4 ),       symdiff;    set_symmetric_difference( firstSet.begin(), firstSet.end(),                             secondSet.begin(), secondSet.end(),                             inserter( symdiff, symdiff.end() ) );    copy( symdiff.begin(), symdiff.end(), ostream_iterator<string>( cout , " " ) );   cout << endl;   return 0;}`

Output: Jim Serena

Clojure

`(use '[clojure.set]) (defn symmetric-difference [s1 s2]  (union (difference s1 s2) (difference s2 s1))) (symmetric-difference #{:john :bob :mary :serena} #{:jim :mary :john :bob})`

Common Lisp

`(set-exclusive-or  (remove-duplicates '(John Serena Bob Mary Serena))  (remove-duplicates '(Jim Mary John Jim Bob)))`

Output:

```(JIM SERENA)
```

D

Generic version.

`import std.stdio, std.algorithm, std.array; struct Set(T) {    immutable T[] items;     Set opSub(in Set other) const pure nothrow {        return items.filter!(x => !other.items.canFind(x)).array.Set;    }     Set opAdd(in Set other) const pure nothrow {        return Set(this.items ~ (other - this).items);    }} Set!T symmetricDifference(T)(in Set!T left, in Set!T right)pure nothrow {    return (left - right) + (right - left);} void main() {    immutable A = ["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"].Set!string;    immutable B = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"].Set!string;     writeln("        A\\B: ", (A - B).items);    writeln("        B\\A: ", (B - A).items);    writeln("A symdiff B: ", symmetricDifference(A, B).items);}`
Output:
```        A\B: ["Serena"]
B\A: ["Jim"]
A symdiff B: ["Serena", "Jim"]```

Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu has no real set type. Instead, it uses a dictionary whose keys are the set values. The `set{` constructor uses `true` as a dummy value, and sets `false` as a dummy value.

`set :setA set{ :John :Bob :Mary :Serena }set :setB set{ :Jim :Mary :John :Bob } symmetric-difference A B:	}	for a in keys A:		if not has B a:			a	for b in keys B:		if not has A b:			b	set{ !. symmetric-difference setA setB`
Output:
`set{ :Serena :Jim }`

E

`? def symmDiff(a, b) { return (a &! b) | (b &! a) }# value: <symmDiff> ? symmDiff(["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"].asSet(), ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"].asSet())# value: ["Jim", "Serena"].asSet()`

Elixir

Works with: Elixir version 1.2
`iex(1)> a = ~w[John Bob Mary Serena] |> MapSet.new#MapSet<["Bob", "John", "Mary", "Serena"]>iex(2)> b = ~w[Jim Mary John Bob] |> MapSet.new#MapSet<["Bob", "Jim", "John", "Mary"]>iex(3)> sym_dif = fn(a,b) -> MapSet.difference(MapSet.union(a,b), MapSet.intersection(a,b)) end#Function<12.54118792/2 in :erl_eval.expr/5>iex(4)> sym_dif.(a,b)#MapSet<["Jim", "Serena"]>`

Erlang

`%% Implemented by Arjun Sunel-module(symdiff).-export([main/0]). main() ->	SetA = sets:from_list(["John","Bob","Mary","Serena"]),	SetB = sets:from_list(["Jim","Mary","John","Bob"]),	AUnionB = sets:union(SetA,SetB),	AIntersectionB = sets:intersection(SetA,SetB),	SymmDiffAB = sets:subtract(AUnionB,AIntersectionB),	sets:to_list(SymmDiffAB). `
Output:
```["Serena","Jim"]
```

F#

`> let a = set ["John"; "Bob"; "Mary"; "Serena"]  let b = set ["Jim"; "Mary"; "John"; "Bob"];; val a : Set<string> = set ["Bob"; "John"; "Mary"; "Serena"]val b : Set<string> = set ["Bob"; "Jim"; "John"; "Mary"] > (a-b) + (b-a);;val it : Set<string> = set ["Jim"; "Serena"]`

Or, if you don't like the infix operators:

`> Set.union (Set.difference a b) (Set.difference b a);;val it : Set<string> = set ["Jim"; "Serena"]`

Eiffel

`note	description: "Summary description for {SYMETRIC_DIFFERENCE_EXAMPLE}."	URI: "http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Symmetric_difference" class	SYMETRIC_DIFFERENCE_EXAMPLE create	make feature {NONE} -- Initialization 	make		local			a,a1,b,b1: ARRAYED_SET [STRING]		do			create a.make (4)			create b.make (4)			a.compare_objects			b.compare_objects			a.put ("John")			a.put ("Bob")			a.put ("Mary")			a.put ("Serena") 			create a1.make (4)			a1.copy (a) 			b.put ("Jim")			b.put ("Mary")			b.put ("John")			b.put ("Bob") 			create b1.make (4)			b1.copy (b) 		    a1.subtract (b1)		    b.subtract (a)		    a1.merge (b)		    across a1 as c loop		    	print (" " + c.item)		    end		end end`

Factor

`: symmetric-diff ( a b -- c )    [ diff ] [ swap diff ] 2bi append ; { "John" "Bob" "Mary" "Serena" } { "Jim" "Mary" "John" "Bob" } symmetric-diff .`

Forth

GForth 0.7.0 tested.

`: elm	( n -- ; one cell per set )	[ cell 8 * 1- ] literal umin CREATE 1 swap lshift , DOES> 	( -- 2^n ) @ ; : universe	( u "name" -- )	dup 0 DO I elm latest swap LOOP	CREATE dup , 0 DO , LOOP	DOES>  ( n a -- )  dup @ tuck cells +		swap 0 		DO	( n a' )			over I rshift 1 AND 			IF dup @ name>string space type THEN			1 cells -		LOOP	2drop ; 5 universe john bob mary serena jim	personsjohn bob mary serena or or orjim mary john bob    or or or 2dup xor           persons2dup -1 xor and cr personsswap -1 xor and cr personscr bye `

Output:

```\$ gforth wrk.fs
serena jim
serena
jim
\$
```

Fortran

Works with: Fortran version 90 and later
`program Symmetric_differenceimplicit none   character(6) :: a(4) = (/ "John  ", "Bob   ", "Mary  ", "Serena" /)  character(6) :: b(4) = (/ "Jim   ", "Mary  ", "John  ", "Bob   " /)  integer :: i, j outer1: do i = 1, size(a)          do j = 1, i-1            if(a(i) == a(j)) cycle outer1   ! Do not check duplicate items          end do          if(.not. any(b == a(i))) write(*,*) a(i)        end do outer1 outer2: do i = 1, size(b)          do j = 1, i-1            if(b(i) == b(j)) cycle outer2   ! Do not check duplicate items          end do          if(.not. any(a == b(i))) write(*,*) b(i)        end do outer2 end program`

Output

```Serena
Jim
```

GAP

`SymmetricDifference := function(a, b)  return Union(Difference(a, b), Difference(b, a));end; a := ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"];b := ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"];SymmetricDifference(a,b);[ "Jim", "Serena" ]`

Go

`package main import "fmt" var a = map[string]bool{"John": true, "Bob": true, "Mary": true, "Serena": true}var b = map[string]bool{"Jim": true, "Mary": true, "John": true, "Bob": true} func main() {    sd := make(map[string]bool)    for e := range a {        if !b[e] {            sd[e] = true        }    }    for e := range b {        if !a[e] {            sd[e] = true        }    }    fmt.Println(sd)}`

Output:

```map[Jim:true Serena:true]
```

Alternatively, the following computes destructively on a. The result is the same.

`func main() {    for e := range b {        delete(a, e)    }    fmt.Println(a)}`

Groovy

Solution:

`def symDiff = { Set s1, Set s2 ->    assert s1 != null    assert s2 != null    (s1 + s2) - (s1.intersect(s2))}`

Test:

`Set a = ['John', 'Serena', 'Bob', 'Mary', 'Serena']Set b = ['Jim', 'Mary', 'John', 'Jim', 'Bob'] assert a.size() == 4assert a == (['Bob', 'John', 'Mary', 'Serena'] as Set)assert b.size() == 4assert b == (['Bob', 'Jim', 'John', 'Mary'] as Set) def aa = symDiff(a, a)def ab = symDiff(a, b)def ba = symDiff(b, a)def bb = symDiff(b, b) assert aa.emptyassert bb.emptyassert ab == baassert ab == (['Jim', 'Serena'] as Set)assert ab == (['Serena', 'Jim'] as Set) println """a: \${a}b: \${b} Symmetric Differences=====================a <> a: \${aa}a <> b: \${ab}b <> a: \${ba}b <> b: \${bb}  """ Set apostles = ['Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke', 'John', 'Peter', 'Paul', 'Silas']Set beatles = ['John', 'Paul', 'George', 'Ringo', 'Peter', 'Stuart']Set csny = ['Crosby', 'Stills', 'Nash', 'Young']Set ppm = ['Peter', 'Paul', 'Mary'] def AA = symDiff(apostles, apostles)def AB = symDiff(apostles, beatles)def AC = symDiff(apostles, csny)def AP = symDiff(apostles, ppm) def BA = symDiff(beatles, apostles)def BB = symDiff(beatles, beatles)def BC = symDiff(beatles, csny)def BP = symDiff(beatles, ppm) def CA = symDiff(csny, apostles)def CB = symDiff(csny, beatles)def CC = symDiff(csny, csny)def CP = symDiff(csny, ppm) def PA = symDiff(ppm, apostles)def PB = symDiff(ppm, beatles)def PC = symDiff(ppm, csny)def PP = symDiff(ppm, ppm) assert AB == BAassert AC == CAassert AP == PAassert BC == CBassert BP == PBassert CP == PC println """apostles: \${apostles} beatles: \${beatles}    csny: \${csny}     ppm: \${ppm} Symmetric Differences=====================apostles <> apostles: \${AA}apostles <> beatles:  \${AB}apostles <> csny:     \${AC}apostles <> ppm:      \${AP} beatles <> apostles:  \${BA}beatles <> beatles:   \${BB}beatles <> csny:      \${BC}beatles <> ppm:       \${BP} csny <> apostles:     \${CA}csny <> beatles:      \${CB}csny <> csny:         \${CC}csny <> ppm:          \${CP} ppm <> apostles:      \${PA}ppm <> beatles:       \${PB}ppm <> csny:          \${PC}ppm <> ppm:           \${PP}"""`

Output:

```a: [Mary, Bob, Serena, John]
b: [Mary, Bob, Jim, John]

Symmetric Differences
=====================
a <> a: []
a <> b: [Jim, Serena]
b <> a: [Jim, Serena]
b <> b: []

apostles: [Paul, Mark, Silas, Peter, Luke, John, Matthew]
beatles: [Paul, Stuart, Ringo, Peter, John, George]
csny: [Crosby, Young, Nash, Stills]
ppm: [Paul, Mary, Peter]

Symmetric Differences
=====================
apostles <> apostles: []
apostles <> beatles:  [Mark, Silas, Stuart, Ringo, Luke, Matthew, George]
apostles <> csny:     [Paul, Crosby, Mark, Silas, Young, Peter, Luke, John, Matthew, Nash, Stills]
apostles <> ppm:      [Mark, Mary, Silas, Luke, John, Matthew]

beatles <> apostles:  [Mark, Stuart, Ringo, Silas, Luke, Matthew, George]
beatles <> beatles:   []
beatles <> csny:      [Paul, Crosby, Stuart, Ringo, Young, Peter, John, Nash, Stills, George]
beatles <> ppm:       [Mary, Stuart, Ringo, John, George]

csny <> apostles:     [Paul, Crosby, Mark, Silas, Young, Peter, Luke, John, Nash, Stills, Matthew]
csny <> beatles:      [Paul, Crosby, Stuart, Ringo, Young, Peter, John, Nash, Stills, George]
csny <> csny:         []
csny <> ppm:          [Paul, Crosby, Mary, Young, Peter, Nash, Stills]

ppm <> apostles:      [Mark, Mary, Silas, Luke, John, Matthew]
ppm <> beatles:       [Mary, Stuart, Ringo, John, George]
ppm <> csny:          [Paul, Crosby, Mary, Young, Peter, Nash, Stills]
ppm <> ppm:           []```

`import Data.Set a = fromList ["John", "Bob",  "Mary", "Serena"]b = fromList ["Jim",  "Mary", "John", "Bob"] (-|-) :: Ord a => Set a -> Set a -> Set ax -|- y = (x \\ y) `union` (y \\ x)  -- Equivalently: (x `union` y) \\ (x `intersect` y)`

Symmetric difference:

`*Main> a -|- bfromList ["Jim","Serena"]`

Individual differences:

`*Main> a \\ bfromList ["Serena"] *Main> b \\ afromList ["Jim"]`

HicEst

`CALL SymmDiff("John,Serena,Bob,Mary,Serena,", "Jim,Mary,John,Jim,Bob,")CALL SymmDiff("John,Bob,Mary,Serena,", "Jim,Mary,John,Bob,") SUBROUTINE SymmDiff(set1, set2)  CHARACTER set1, set2, answer*50  answer = " "  CALL setA_setB( set1, set2, answer )  CALL setA_setB( set2, set1, answer )  WRITE(Messagebox,Name) answer          ! answer = "Serena,Jim," in both casesEND SUBROUTINE setA_setB( set1, set2, differences )  CHARACTER set1, set2, differences, a*100  a = set1  EDIT(Text=a, \$inLeXicon=set2)     ! eg   a <= \$John,Serena,\$Bob,\$Mary,Serena,  EDIT(Text=a, Right="\$", Mark1, Right=",", Mark2, Delete, DO) ! Serena,Serena,  EDIT(Text=a, Option=1, SortDelDbls=a) ! Option=1: keep case;          Serena,  differences = TRIM( differences ) // aEND`

Icon and Unicon

Set operations are built into Icon/Unicon.

`procedure main() a := set(["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"])b := set(["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]) showset("a",a)showset("b",b)showset("(a\\b) \xef (b\\a)",(a -- b) ++ (b -- a))showset("(a\\b)",a -- b)showset("(b\\a)",b -- a)end    procedure showset(n,x)writes(n," = { ")every writes(!x," ")write("}")returnend`

Sample output:

```a = { Serena Mary Bob John }
b = { Mary Bob Jim John }
(a\b) ∩ (b\a) = { Serena Jim }
(a\b) = { Serena }
(b\a) = { Jim }```

J

`   A=: ~.;:'John Serena Bob Mary Serena'   B=: ~. ;:'Jim Mary John Jim Bob'    (A-.B) , (B-.A)   NB. Symmetric Difference┌──────┬───┐│Serena│Jim│└──────┴───┘   A (-. , -.~) B    NB. Tacit equivalent┌──────┬───┐│Serena│Jim│└──────┴───┘`

To illustrate some of the underlying mechanics used here:

`   A -. B            NB. items in A but not in B┌──────┐│Serena│└──────┘   A -.~ B           NB. items in B but not in A┌───┐│Jim│└───┘   A                 NB. A is a sequence without duplicates┌────┬──────┬───┬────┐│John│Serena│Bob│Mary│└────┴──────┴───┴────┘`

Here's an alternative implementation:

`   A (, -. [ -. -.) B┌──────┬───┐│Serena│Jim│└──────┴───┘`

Here, `(,)` contains all items from A and B and `([ -. -.)` is the idiom for set intersection, and their difference is the symmetric difference. (Note: an individual word in a J sentence may be placed inside a parenthesis with no change in evaluation, and this can also be used for emphasis when a word might get lost.)

Java

`import java.util.Arrays;import java.util.HashSet;import java.util.Set; public class SymmetricDifference {    public static void main(String[] args) {        Set<String> setA = new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList("John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"));        Set<String> setB = new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"));         // Present our initial data set        System.out.println("In set A: " + setA);        System.out.println("In set B: " + setB);         // Option 1: union of differences        // Get our individual differences.        Set<String> notInSetA = new HashSet<String>(setB);        notInSetA.removeAll(setA);        Set<String> notInSetB = new HashSet<String>(setA);        notInSetB.removeAll(setB);         // The symmetric difference is the concatenation of the two individual differences        Set<String> symmetricDifference = new HashSet<String>(notInSetA);        symmetricDifference.addAll(notInSetB);         // Option 2: union minus intersection        // Combine both sets        Set<String> union = new HashSet<String>(setA);        union.addAll(setB);         // Get the intersection        Set<String> intersection = new HashSet<String>(setA);        intersection.retainAll(setB);         // The symmetric difference is the union of the 2 sets minus the intersection        Set<String> symmetricDifference2 = new HashSet<String>(union);        symmetricDifference2.removeAll(intersection);         // Present our results        System.out.println("Not in set A: " + notInSetA);        System.out.println("Not in set B: " + notInSetB);        System.out.println("Symmetric Difference: " + symmetricDifference);        System.out.println("Symmetric Difference 2: " + symmetricDifference2);    }}`

Output:

```In set A: [Mary, Bob, Serena, John]
In set B: [Mary, Bob, Jim, John]
Not in set A: [Jim]
Not in set B: [Serena]
Symmetric Difference: [Jim, Serena]
Symmetric Difference 2: [Jim, Serena]```

JavaScript

ES5

Iterative

Works with: JavaScript version 1.6
Works with: Firefox version 1.5
Works with: SpiderMonkey
for the `print()` function.

Uses the Array function `unique()` defined here.

`// in A but not in Bfunction relative_complement(A, B) {    return A.filter(function(elem) {return B.indexOf(elem) == -1});} // in A or in B but not in bothfunction symmetric_difference(A,B) {    return relative_complement(A,B).concat(relative_complement(B,A));} var a = ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"].unique(); var b = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"].unique(); print(a);print(b);print(symmetric_difference(a,b));`

outputs

```Bob,John,Mary,Serena
Bob,Jim,John,Mary
Serena,Jim```

Clear JavaScript

`function Difference(A,B){    var a = A.length, b = B.length, c = 0, C = [];    for (var i = 0; i < a; i++)     { var j = 0, k = 0;       while (j < b && B[j] !== A[i]) j++;       while (k < c && C[k] !== A[i]) k++;       if (j == b && k == c) C[c++] = A[i];     }    return C;} function SymmetricDifference(A,B){      var D1 = Difference(A,B), D2 = Difference(B,A),        a = D1.length, b = D2.length;    for (var i = 0; i < b; i++) D1[a++] = D2[i];    return D1;}  /* Example   A = ['John', 'Serena', 'Bob', 'Mary', 'Serena'];   B = ['Jim', 'Mary', 'John', 'Jim', 'Bob'];    Difference(A,B);           // 'Serena'   Difference(B,A);           // 'Jim'   SymmetricDifference(A,B);  // 'Serena','Jim'*/`

ES6

Functional

By composition of generic functions;

`(() => {    'use strict';     const symmetricDifference = (xs, ys) =>        union(difference(xs, ys), difference(ys, xs));      // GENERIC FUNCTIONS ------------------------------------------------------     // First instance of x (if any) removed from xs    // delete_ :: Eq a => a -> [a] -> [a]    const delete_ = (x, xs) => {        const i = xs.indexOf(x);        return i !== -1 ? (xs.slice(0, i)            .concat(xs.slice(i, -1))) : xs;    };     //  (\\)  :: (Eq a) => [a] -> [a] -> [a]    const difference = (xs, ys) =>        ys.reduce((a, x) => filter(z => z !== x, a), xs);     // filter :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]    const filter = (f, xs) => xs.filter(f);     // flip :: (a -> b -> c) -> b -> a -> c    const flip = f => (a, b) => f.apply(null, [b, a]);     // foldl :: (b -> a -> b) -> b -> [a] -> b    const foldl = (f, a, xs) => xs.reduce(f, a);     // nub :: [a] -> [a]    const nub = xs => {        const mht = unconsMay(xs);        return mht.nothing ? xs : (            ([h, t]) => [h].concat(nub(t.filter(s => s !== h)))        )(mht.just);    };     // show :: a -> String    const show = x => JSON.stringify(x, null, 2);     // unconsMay :: [a] -> Maybe (a, [a])    const unconsMay = xs => xs.length > 0 ? {        just: [xs[0], xs.slice(1)],        nothing: false    } : {        nothing: true    };     // union :: [a] -> [a] -> [a]    const union = (xs, ys) => {        const sx = nub(xs);        return sx.concat(foldl(flip(delete_), nub(ys), sx));    };     // TEST -------------------------------------------------------------------    const        a = ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"],        b = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"];     return show(        symmetricDifference(a, b)    );})();`
Output:
`["Serena", "Jim"]`

Procedural

` const symmetricDifference = (...args) => {    let result = new Set();    for (const x of args)        for (const e of new Set(x))            if (result.has(e)) result.delete(e)    		else result.add(e);     return [...result];} // TEST -------------------------------------------------------------------console.log(symmetricDifference(["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"],["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]));console.log(symmetricDifference([1, 2, 5], [2, 3, 5], [3, 4, 5]));  `
Output:
`["Jim", "Serena"][1, 4, 5] `

jq

The following implementation of symmetric_difference(a;b) makes no assumptions about the input lists except that neither contains null; given these assumptions, it is quite efficient. To workaround the no-null requirement would be tedious but straightforward.

`# The following implementation of intersection (but not symmetric_difference) assumes that the# elements of a (and of b) are unique and do not include null:def intersection(a; b):   reduce ((a + b) | sort)[] as \$i    ([null, []]; if .[0] == \$i then [null, .[1] + [\$i]] else [\$i, .[1]] end)  | .[1] ; def symmetric_difference(a;b):  (a|unique) as \$a | (b|unique) as \$b   | ((\$a + \$b) | unique) - (intersection(\$a;\$b)); `
Example:
`symmetric_difference( [1,2,1,2]; [2,3] )[1,3]`

Julia

Julia has a built-in `Set` type that supports elementary set operations, including `symdiff`.

` a = Set(["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"])b = Set(["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"])c = symdiff(a, b) println("Set a is: ", a)println("Set b is: ", b)println("Their symmetric difference is: ", c) `
Output:
```Set a is: Set{ASCIIString}({"John","Mary","Bob","Serena"})
Set b is: Set{ASCIIString}({"Jim","Mary","John","Bob"})
Their symmetric difference is: Set{ASCIIString}({"Jim","Serena"})
```

K

`  A: ?("John";"Bob";"Mary";"Serena")  B: ?("Jim";"Mary";"John";"Bob")   A _dvl B               / in A but not in B"Serena"  B _dvl A               / in B but not in A"Jim"  (A _dvl B;B _dvl A)    / Symmetric difference("Serena" "Jim")`

Kotlin

`// version 1.1.2 fun main(args: Array<String>) {    val a = setOf("John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena")    val b = setOf("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob")    println("A     = \$a")    println("B     = \$b")    val c =  a - b    println("A \\ B = \$c")    val d = b - a    println("B \\ A = \$d")    val e = c.union(d)    println("A Δ B = \$e")}`
Output:
```A     = [John, Bob, Mary, Serena]
B     = [Jim, Mary, John, Bob]
A \ B = [Serena]
B \ A = [Jim]
A Δ B = [Serena, Jim]
```

Lasso

` [var(    'a'  = array(       'John'      ,'Bob'      ,'Mary'      ,'Serena'    )    ,'b'  = array ); \$b->insert( 'Jim' ); // Alternate method of populating array\$b->insert( 'Mary' );\$b->insert( 'John' );\$b->insert( 'Bob' ); \$a->sort( true ); // arrays must be sorted (true = ascending) for difference to work\$b->sort( true ); \$a->difference( \$b )->union( \$b->difference( \$a ) ); ] `

Logo

Works with: UCB Logo
`to diff :a :b [:acc []]  if empty? :a [output sentence :acc :b]  ifelse member? first :a :b ~    [output (diff butfirst :a  remove first :a :b  :acc)] ~    [output (diff butfirst :a  :b    lput first :a :acc)]end make "a [John Bob Mary Serena]make "b [Jim Mary John Bob] show diff :a :b   ; [Serena Jim]`

Lua

`A = { ["John"] = true, ["Bob"] = true, ["Mary"] = true, ["Serena"] = true }B = { ["Jim"] = true, ["Mary"] = true, ["John"] = true, ["Bob"] = true } A_B = {}for a in pairs(A) do    if not B[a] then A_B[a] = true endend B_A = {}for b in pairs(B) do    if not A[b] then B_A[b] = true endend for a_b in pairs(A_B) do    print( a_b )endfor b_a in pairs(B_A) do    print( b_a )end`

Object-oriented approach:

`SetPrototype = {    __index = {        union = function(self, other)            local res = Set{}            for k in pairs(self) do res[k] = true end            for k in pairs(other) do res[k] = true end            return res        end,        intersection = function(self, other)            local res = Set{}            for k in pairs(self) do res[k] = other[k] end            return res        end,        difference = function(self, other)            local res = Set{}            for k in pairs(self) do                if not other[k] then res[k] = true end            end            return res        end,        symmetric_difference = function(self, other)            return self:difference(other):union(other:difference(self))        end    },    -- return string representation of set    __tostring = function(self)        -- list to collect all elements from the set        local l = {}        for k in pairs(self) do l[#l+1] = k end        return "{" .. table.concat(l, ", ") .. "}"    end,    -- allow concatenation with other types to yield string    __concat = function(a, b)        return (type(a) == 'string' and a or tostring(a)) ..            (type(b) == 'string' and b or tostring(b))    end} function Set(items)    local _set = {}    setmetatable(_set, SetPrototype)    for _, item in ipairs(items) do _set[item] = true end    return _setend A = Set{"John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"}B = Set{"Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"} print("Set A: " .. A)print("Set B: " .. B) print("\nSymm. difference (A\\B)∪(B\\A): " .. A:symmetric_difference(B))print("Union            A∪B        : " .. A:union(B))print("Intersection     A∩B        : " .. A:intersection(B))print("Difference       A\\B        : " .. A:difference(B))print("Difference       B\\A        : " .. B:difference(A))`

Output:

```   Set A: {Serena, Mary, John, Bob}
Set B: {Mary, Jim, John, Bob}

Symm. difference (A\B)∪(B\A): {Serena, Jim}
Union            A∪B        : {John, Serena, Jim, Mary, Bob}
Intersection     A∩B        : {Mary, John, Bob}
Difference       A\B        : {Serena}
Difference       B\A        : {Jim}
```

Maple

Maple has built-in support for set operations. Assign the sets A and B:

`A := {John, Bob, Mary, Serena};B := {Jim, Mary, John, Bob};`

Now compute the symmetric difference with the symmdiff command:

`symmdiff(A, B);`
Output:
```                        {Jim, Serena}
```

Mathematica

Mathematica has built-in support for operations on sets, using its generic symbolic lists. This function finds the entries in each list that are not present in the intersection of the two lists.

`SymmetricDifference[x_List,y_List] := Join[Complement[x,Intersection[x,y]],Complement[y,Intersection[x,y]]]`

For large lists, some performance improvement could be made by caching the intersection of the two lists to avoid computing it twice:

`CachedSymmetricDifference[x_List,y_List] := Module[{intersect=Intersection[x,y]},Join[Complement[x,intersect],Complement[y,intersect]]]`

Also, due to Mathematica's symbolic nature, these functions are automatically applicable to lists of any content, such as strings, integers, reals, graphics, or undefined generic symbols (e.g. unassigned variables).

MATLAB

If you are using a vector of numbers as the sets of which you like to find the symmetric difference, then there are already utilities that operate on these types of sets built into MATLAB. This code will take the symmetric difference of two vectors:

`>> [setdiff([1 2 3],[2 3 4]) setdiff([2 3 4],[1 2 3])] ans =      1     4`

On the other hand, if you are using cell-arrays as sets, there are no built-in set utilities to operate on those data structures, so you will have to program them yourself. Also, the only way to have a set of strings is to put each string in a cell of a cell array, trying to put them into a vector will cause all of the strings to concatenate.

This code will return the symmetric difference of two sets and will take both cell arrays and vectors (as in the above example) as inputs.

`function resultantSet = symmetricDifference(set1,set2)     assert( ~xor(iscell(set1),iscell(set2)), 'Both sets must be of the same type, either cells or matricies, but not a combination of the two' );%% Helper function definitions     %Define what set equality means for cell arrays    function trueFalse = equality(set1,set2)        if xor(iscell(set1),iscell(set2)) %set1 or set2 is a set and the other isn't            trueFalse = false;            return        elseif ~(iscell(set1) || iscell(set2)) %set1 and set2 are not sets            if ischar(set1) && ischar(set2) %set1 and set2 are chars or strings                trueFalse = strcmp(set1,set2);            elseif xor(ischar(set1),ischar(set2)) %set1 or set2 is a string but the other isn't                trueFalse = false;            else %set1 and set2 are not strings                if numel(set1) == numel(set2) %Since they must be matricies if the are of equal cardinality then they can be compaired                    trueFalse = all((set1 == set2));                else %If they aren't of equal cardinality then they can't be equal                    trueFalse = false;                end            end            return        else %set1 and set2 are both sets             for x = (1:numel(set1))                trueFalse = false;                for y = (1:numel(set2))                     %Compair the current element of set1 with every element                    %in set2                    trueFalse = equality(set1{x},set2{y});                     %If the element of set1 is equal to the current element                    %of set2 remove that element from set2 and break out of                    %this inner loop                    if trueFalse                        set2(y) = [];                        break                    end                end                 %If the loop completes without breaking then the current                %element of set1 is not contained in set2 therefore the two                %sets are not equal and we can return an equality of false                if (~trueFalse)                    return                end            end             %If, after checking every element in both sets, there are still            %elements in set2 then the two sets are not equivalent            if ~isempty(set2)                trueFalse = false;            end            %If the executation makes it here without the previous if            %statement evaluating to true, then this function will return            %true.        end    end %equality     %Define the relative compliment for cell arrays    function set1 = relativeComplement(set1,set2)         for k = (1:numel(set2))             if numel(set1) == 0                return            end             j = 1;            while j <= numel(set1)                if equality(set1{j},set2{k})                    set1(j) = [];                    j = j-1;                end                j = j+1;            end        end    end %relativeComplement %% The Symmetric Difference Algorithm        if iscell(set1) && iscell(set2)        resultantSet = [relativeComplement(set1,set2) relativeComplement(set2,set1)];    else        resultantSet = [setdiff(set1,set2) setdiff(set2,set1)];    end     resultantSet = unique(resultantSet); %Make sure there are not duplicates end %symmetricDifference`

Solution Test:

`>> A = {'John','Bob','Mary','Serena'} A =      'John'    'Bob'    'Mary'    'Serena' >> B = {'Jim','Mary','John','Bob'} B =      'Jim'    'Mary'    'John'    'Bob' >> symmetricDifference(A,B) ans =      'Serena'    'Jim' %Correct >> symmetricDifference([1 2 3],[2 3 4]) ans =      1     4 %Correct`

Maxima

`/* builtin */symmdifference({"John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"},               {"Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"});{"Jim", "Serena"}`

Mercury

`:- module symdiff.:- interface. :- import_module io.:- pred main(io::di, io::uo) is det. :- implementation.:- import_module list, set, string. main(!IO) :-    A = set(["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]),    B = set(["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"]),    print_set("A\\B", DiffAB @ (A `difference` B), !IO),    print_set("B\\A", DiffBA @ (B `difference` A), !IO),    print_set("A symdiff B", DiffAB `union` DiffBA, !IO). :- pred print_set(string::in, set(T)::in, io::di, io::uo) is det. print_set(Desc, Set, !IO) :-   to_sorted_list(Set, Elems),   io.format("%11s: %s\n", [s(Desc), s(string(Elems))], !IO).`

Nim

`import sets var setA = ["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"].toSetvar setB = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"].toSetecho setA -+- setB # Symmetric differenceecho setA - setB # Differenceecho setB - setA # Difference`

Output:

```{Serena, Jim}
{Serena}
{Jim}```

Objective-C

`#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) {  @autoreleasepool {     NSSet* setA = [NSSet setWithObjects:@"John", @"Serena", @"Bob", @"Mary", @"Serena", nil];    NSSet* setB = [NSSet setWithObjects:@"Jim", @"Mary", @"John", @"Jim", @"Bob", nil];     // Present our initial data set    NSLog(@"In set A: %@", setA);    NSLog(@"In set B: %@", setB);     // Get our individual differences.    NSMutableSet* notInSetA = [NSMutableSet setWithSet:setB];    [notInSetA minusSet:setA];    NSMutableSet* notInSetB = [NSMutableSet setWithSet:setA];    [notInSetB minusSet:setB];     // The symmetric difference is the concatenation of the two individual differences    NSMutableSet* symmetricDifference = [NSMutableSet setWithSet:notInSetA];    [symmetricDifference unionSet:notInSetB];     // Present our results    NSLog(@"Not in set A: %@", notInSetA);    NSLog(@"Not in set B: %@", notInSetB);    NSLog(@"Symmetric Difference: %@", symmetricDifference);   }  return 0;}`

OCaml

`let unique lst =  let f lst x = if List.mem x lst then lst else x::lst in  List.rev (List.fold_left f [] lst) let ( -| ) a b =  unique (List.filter (fun v -> not (List.mem v b)) a) let ( -|- ) a b = (b -| a) @ (a -| b)`

in the toplevel:

`# let a = [ "John"; "Bob"; "Mary"; "Serena" ]  and b = [ "Jim"; "Mary"; "John"; "Bob" ]  ;;val a : string list = ["John"; "Bob"; "Mary"; "Serena"]val b : string list = ["Jim"; "Mary"; "John"; "Bob"] # a -|- b ;;- : string list = ["Jim"; "Serena"] # a -| b ;;- : string list = ["Serena"] # b -| a ;;- : string list = ["Jim"]`

ooRexx

`a = .set~of("John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena")b = .set~of("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob")-- the xor operation is a symmetric differencedo item over a~xor(b)   say itemend`

Output:

```Serena
Jim
```

Oz

Oz does not have a general set data type. We can implement some basic set operations in terms of list functions and use them to define the symmetric difference:

`declare  fun {SymDiff A B}     {Union {Diff A B} {Diff B A}}  end   %% implement sets in terms of lists  fun {MakeSet Xs}     set({Nub2 Xs nil})  end   fun {Diff set(A) set(B)}     set({FoldL B List.subtract A})  end   fun {Union set(A) set(B)}     set({Append A B})  end   %% --  fun {Nub2 Xs Ls}     case Xs of nil then nil     [] X|Xr andthen {Member X Ls} then {Nub2 Xr Ls}     [] X|Xr then X|{Nub2 Xr X|Ls}     end  endin  {Show {SymDiff	 {MakeSet [john bob mary serena]}	 {MakeSet [jim mary john bob]}}}  {Show {SymDiff	 {MakeSet [john serena bob mary serena]}	 {MakeSet [jim mary john jim bob]}}}`

Oz does have a type for finite sets of non-negative integers. This is part of the constraint programming support. For the given task, we could use it like this if we assume numbers instead of names:

`declare  fun {SymDiff A B}     {FS.union {FS.diff A B} {FS.diff B A}}  end   A = {FS.value.make [1 2 3 4]}  B = {FS.value.make [5 3 1 2]}in  {Show {SymDiff A B}}`

Pascal

Works with: FPC 3.0.2
`PROGRAM Symmetric_difference; TYPE  TName = (Bob, Jim, John, Mary, Serena);  TList = SET OF TName; PROCEDURE Put(txt : String; ResSet : TList);VAR  I : TName; BEGIN  Write(txt);  FOR I IN ResSet DO Write(I,' ');  WriteLnEND; VAR  ListA : TList = [John, Bob, Mary, Serena];  ListB : TList = [Jim, Mary, John, Bob]; BEGIN  Put('ListA          -> ', ListA);  Put('ListB          -> ', ListB);  Put('ListA >< ListB -> ', ListA >< ListB);  Put('ListA -  ListB -> ', ListA -  ListB);  Put('ListB -  ListA -> ', ListB -  ListA);  ReadLn;END.`
Output:
```ListA          -> Bob John Mary Serena
ListB          -> Bob Jim John Mary
ListA >< ListB -> Jim Serena
ListA -  ListB -> Serena
ListB -  ListA -> Jim```

PARI/GP

`sd(u,v)={  my(r=List());  u=vecsort(u,,8);  v=vecsort(v,,8);  for(i=1,#u,if(!setsearch(v,u[i]),listput(r,u[i])));  for(i=1,#v,if(!setsearch(u,v[i]),listput(r,v[i])));  Vec(r)};sd(["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"],["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"])`

Perl

`sub symm_diff {        # two lists passed in as references        my %in_a = map((\$_=>1), @{+shift});        my %in_b = map((\$_=>1), @{+shift});         my @a = grep { !\$in_b{\$_} } keys %in_a;        my @b = grep { !\$in_a{\$_} } keys %in_b;         # return A-B, B-A, A xor B as ref to lists        return \@a, \@b, [ @a, @b ]} my @a = qw(John Serena Bob  Mary Serena);my @b = qw(Jim  Mary   John Jim  Bob   ); my (\$a, \$b, \$s) = symm_diff(\@a, \@b);print "A\\B: @\$a\nB\\A: @\$b\nSymm: @\$s\n";`

Perl 6

`my \A = set <John Serena Bob Mary Serena>;my \B = set <Jim Mary John Jim Bob>; say  A ∖ B; # Set subtractionsay  B ∖ A; # Set subtractionsay  A ⊖ B; # Symmetric difference`
Output:
```set(Serena)
set(Jim)
set(Jim, Serena)```

Phix

`function Union(sequence a, sequence b)    for i=1 to length(a) do        if not find(a[i],b) then            b = append(b,a[i])        end if    end for    return bend function function Difference(sequence a, sequence b)sequence res = {}    for i=1 to length(a) do        if not find(a[i],b)        and not find(a[i],res) then            res = append(res,a[i])        end if    end for    return resend function function Symmetric_Difference(sequence a, sequence b)    return Union(Difference(a, b), Difference(b, a))end function sequence a = {"John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"},         b = {"Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"}?Symmetric_Difference(a,a)?Symmetric_Difference(a,b)?Symmetric_Difference(b,a)?Symmetric_Difference(b,b)`
Output:
```{}
{"Jim","Serena"}
{"Serena","Jim"}
{}
```

PHP

`<?php\$a = array('John', 'Bob', 'Mary', 'Serena');\$b = array('Jim', 'Mary', 'John', 'Bob'); // Remove any duplicates\$a = array_unique(\$a);\$b = array_unique(\$b); // Get the individual differences, using array_diff()\$a_minus_b = array_diff(\$a, \$b);\$b_minus_a = array_diff(\$b, \$a); // Simply merge them together to get the symmetric difference\$symmetric_difference = array_merge(\$a_minus_b, \$b_minus_a); // Present our results.echo 'List A:               ', implode(', ', \$a),   "\nList B:               ", implode(', ', \$b),  "\nA \\ B:                ", implode(', ', \$a_minus_b),  "\nB \\ A:                ", implode(', ', \$b_minus_a),   "\nSymmetric difference: ", implode(', ', \$symmetric_difference), "\n";?>`

This outputs:

```List A:               John, Bob, Mary, Serena
List B:               Jim, Mary, John, Bob
A \ B:                Serena
B \ A:                Jim
Symmetric difference: Serena, Jim```

PicoLisp

`(de symdiff (A B)   (uniq (conc (diff A B) (diff B A))) )`

Output:

```(symdiff '(John Serena Bob Mary Serena) '(Jim Mary John Jim Bob))
-> (Serena Jim)```

Pike

The set type in Pike is 'multiset', that is, a value may appear multiple times and the difference operator only removes equal amounts of duplicates.

`> multiset(string) A = (< "John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Bob", "Serena" >); > multiset(string) B = (< "Jim", "Mary", "Mary", "John", "Bob", "Jim" >); > A^B;                                                               Result: (< "Bob", "Serena", "Serena", "Mary", "Jim", "Jim" >)`

The `^` operator treats arrays like multisets.

`> array(string) A = ({ "John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena", "Bob" }); > array(string) B = ({ "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob", "Mary" });> A^B;Result: ({ "Serena", "Serena", "Bob", "Jim", "Jim", "Mary"}) > Array.uniq((A-B)+(B-A));Result: ({ "Serena", "Jim" })`

Set operations are also possible with mappings. Here the difference operator works as expected:

`> mapping(string:int) A = ([ "John":1, "Serena":1, "Bob":1, "Mary":1 ]);                     > mapping(string:int) B = ([ "Jim":1, "Mary":1, "John":1, "Bob":1 ]); > A^B;Result: ([ "Jim": 1, "Serena": 1 ])`

Lastly, there is a Set class.

`> ADT.Set A = ADT.Set((< "John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena", "Bob" >));        > ADT.Set B = ADT.Set((< "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob", "Mary" >));      > (A-B)+(B-A);Result: ADT.Set({ "Serena", "Jim" })`

PL/I

`/* PL/I **************************************************************** 17.08.2013 Walter Pachl**********************************************************************/*process source attributes xref; sd: Proc Options(main); Dcl a(4) Char(20) Var Init('John','Bob','Mary','Serena'); Dcl b(4) Char(20) Var Init('Jim','Mary','John','Bob'); Call match(a,b); Call match(b,a); match: Proc(x,y); Dcl (x(*),y(*)) Char(*) Var; Dcl (i,j) Bin Fixed(31); Do i=1 To hbound(x);   Do j=1 To hbound(y);     If x(i)=y(j) Then Leave;     End;   If j>hbound(y) Then     Put Edit(x(i))(Skip,a);   End; End; End;`

Output:

```Serena
Jim
```

PowerShell

`\$A = @( "John"        "Bob"        "Mary"        "Serena" ) \$B = @( "Jim"        "Mary"        "John"        "Bob" ) #  Full commandlet name and full parameter namesCompare-Object -ReferenceObject \$A -DifferenceObject \$B #  Same commandlet using an alias and positional parametersCompare \$A \$B #  A - BCompare \$A \$B | Where SideIndicator -eq "<=" | Select -ExpandProperty InputObject #  B - ACompare \$A \$B | Where SideIndicator -eq "=>" | Select -ExpandProperty InputObject`
Output:
```InputObject SideIndicator
----------- -------------
Jim         =>
Serena      <=

InputObject SideIndicator
----------- -------------
Jim         =>
Serena      <=

Serena

Jim```

Prolog

Works with: SWI-Prolog
`sym_diff :-    A = ['John', 'Serena', 'Bob', 'Mary', 'Serena'],    B = ['Jim', 'Mary', 'John', 'Jim', 'Bob'],    format('A : ~w~n', [A]),    format('B : ~w~n', [B]),    list_to_set(A, SA),    list_to_set(B, SB),    format('set from A : ~w~n', [SA]),    format('set from B : ~w~n', [SB]),    subtract(SA, SB, DAB),    format('difference A\\B : ~w~n', [DAB]),    subtract(SB, SA, DBA),    format('difference B\\A : ~w~n', [DBA]),    union(DAB, DBA, Diff),    format('symetric difference : ~w~n', [Diff]).`

output :

```A : [John,Serena,Bob,Mary,Serena]
B : [Jim,Mary,John,Jim,Bob]
set from A : [John,Serena,Bob,Mary]
set from B : [Jim,Mary,John,Bob]
difference A\B : [Serena]
difference B\A : [Jim]
symetric difference : [Serena,Jim]
true.```

PureBasic

Simple approach

`Dim A.s(3)Dim B.s(3) A(0)="John": A(1)="Bob": A(2)="Mary": A(3)="Serena"B(0)="Jim":  B(1)="Mary":B(2)="John": B(3)="Bob" For a=0 To ArraySize(A())    ; A-B  For b=0 To ArraySize(B())    If A(a)=B(b)      Break     ElseIf b=ArraySize(B())      Debug A(a)    EndIf  Next bNext a For b=0 To ArraySize(B())     ; B-A  For a=0 To ArraySize(A())    If A(a)=B(b)      Break     ElseIf a=ArraySize(A())      Debug B(b)    EndIf  Next aNext b`

Solution using lists

`DataSection  SetA:  Data.i 4  Data.s "John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"  ; Data.i 5  ; Data.s "John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"  SetB:  Data.i 4  Data.s "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"  ; Data.i 5  ; Data.s "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"EndDataSection Procedure addElementsToSet(List x.s())  ;requires the read pointer to be set prior to calling by using 'Restore'  Protected i, count   Read.i count  For i = 1 To count    AddElement(x())    Read.s x()  NextEndProcedure Procedure displaySet(List x.s())  Protected i, count = ListSize(x())  FirstElement(x())  For i = 1 To count    Print(x())    NextElement(x())    If i <> count: Print(", "): EndIf   Next  PrintN("")EndProcedure Procedure symmetricDifference(List a.s(), List b.s(), List result.s())  Protected ACount = ListSize(a()), BCount = ListSize(b()), prev.s   ;this may leave set a and b in a different order  SortList(a(),#PB_Sort_Ascending)  SortList(b(),#PB_Sort_Ascending)   FirstElement(a())  FirstElement(b())  LastElement(result()) ;add to end of result()  While ACount > 0 Or BCount > 0    If ACount <> 0 And BCount <> 0 And a() = b()      ACount - 1: NextElement(a())      BCount - 1: NextElement(b())    ElseIf BCount = 0 Or (ACount <> 0 And a() < b())      AddElement(result()): result() = a()      prev = a(): Repeat: ACount - 1: NextElement(a()): Until ACount = 0 Or (a() <> prev)    ElseIf ACount = 0 Or (BCount <> 0 And a() > b())      AddElement(result()): result() = b()      prev = b(): Repeat: BCount - 1: NextElement(b()): Until BCount = 0 Or (b() <> prev)    EndIf   Wend EndProcedure  If OpenConsole()  NewList a.s(): Restore SetA: addElementsToSet(a())  NewList b.s(): Restore SetB: addElementsToSet(b())  Print("Set A: "): displaySet(a())  Print("Set B: "): displaySet(b())   NewList sd.s()  symmetricDifference(a(), b(), sd())  Print("Symmetric Difference: "): displaySet(sd())   Print(#CRLF\$ + #CRLF\$ + "Press ENTER to exit")  Input()  CloseConsole()EndIf`

Sample output:

```Set A: John, Bob, Mary, Serena
Set B: Jim, Mary, John, Bob
Symmetric Difference: Jim, Serena```

Python

Python's `set` type supports difference as well as symmetric difference operators.

Python 3.x and Python 2.7 have syntax for set literals:

`>>> setA = {"John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"}>>> setB = {"Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"}>>> setA ^ setB # symmetric difference of A and B{'Jim', 'Serena'}>>> setA - setB # elements in A that are not in B{'Serena'}>>> setB - setA # elements in B that are not in A{'Jim'}>>> setA | setB # elements in A or B (union){'John', 'Bob', 'Jim', 'Serena', 'Mary'}>>> setA & setB # elements in both A and B (intersection){'Bob', 'John', 'Mary'}`

Note that the order of set elements is undefined.

Earlier versions of Python:

`>>> setA = set(["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"])>>> setB = set(["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"])>>> setA ^ setB # symmetric difference of A and Bset(['Jim', 'Serena'])>>> setA - setB # elements in A that are not in Bset(['Serena'])>>> # and so on...`

There is also a method call interface for these operations. In contrast to the operators above, they accept any iterables as arguments not just sets.

`>>> setA.symmetric_difference(setB){'Jim', 'Serena'}>>> setA.difference(setB){'Serena'}>>> setB.difference(setA){'Jim'}>>> setA.union(setB){'Jim', 'Mary', 'Serena', 'John', 'Bob'}>>> setA.intersection(setB){'Mary', 'John', 'Bob'}`

R

`a <- c( "John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena" )b <- c( "Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob" )c(setdiff(b, a), setdiff(a, b)) a <- c("John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena")b <- c("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob")c(setdiff(b, a), setdiff(a, b)) `

`[1] "Jim"    "Serena"`

Racket

` #lang racket(define A (set "John" "Bob" "Mary" "Serena"))(define B (set "Jim" "Mary" "John" "Bob")) (set-symmetric-difference A B)(set-subtract A B)(set-subtract B A) `

REBOL

`a: [John Serena Bob Mary Serena]b: [Jim Mary John Jim Bob]difference a b`

Result is

```[Serena Jim]
```

REXX

version 1

This REXX version shows the symmetric difference and symmetric AND between two lists, the lists have duplicate elements to show their proper handling.
The lists (and output) are formatted as a SET.
The SET elements may contain any character permitted with a REXX literal, including the literal character itself (expressed as a double literal delimiter), blanks, brackets, commas, and also a null character.

`/*REXX pgm finds symmetric difference and symm. AND (between two lists).*/a.=0                                              /*falsify the booleans*/a= '["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]'  /*note the duplicate. */b= '["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]'        /*  "   "       "     */a.1=a;     say '──────────────list A ='  a        /*assign and display. */a.2=b;     say '──────────────list B ='  b        /*   "    "     "     */SD=  ;     SA=                                    /*Sym. Diff;  Sym And.*/SD.=0;     SA.=0                                  /*falsify SD & SA bool*//*══════════════════════════════════════════════════parse the two lists.*/  do k=1  for 2                    /*process both lists (stemmed array).*/  a.k=strip(strip(a.k,,"["),,']')  /*strip leading and trailing brackets*/             do j=1  until a.k=''  /*parse names  [they may have blanks]*/             a.k=strip(a.k,,',')                  /*strip comma (if any)*/             parse var  a.k   '"'   _   '"'  a.k  /*get the list's name.*/             a.k.j=_                              /*store the list name.*/             a.k._=1                              /*make a boolean val. */             end   /*j*/  a.k.0=j-1                                       /*number of list names*/  end              /*k*//*══════════════════════════════════════════════════find symmetric DIFF.*/  do k=1  for 2                                   /*process both lists. */  ko=word(2 1,k)                                  /*point to other list.*/      do j=1  for a.k.0;       _=a.k.j            /*process list names. */      if \a.ko._ & \SD._  then do                 /*if not in both···   */                               SD=SD   '"'_'",'   /*add to sym diff list*/                               SD._=1             /*"trueify" a boolean.*/                               end      end   /*j*/  end       /*k*/ SD= "["strip(strip(SD),'T',",")']'                /*clean up and  [ ] it*/say;          say 'symmetric difference =' SD     /*show symmetric DIFF.*//*══════════════════════════════════════════════════find symmetric AND. */  do j=1  for a.1.0;             _=a.1.j          /*process A list names*/  if a.1._ & a.2._ & \SA._  then do               /*if common to both···*/                                 SA=SA   '"'_'",' /*add to symmetric AND*/                                 SA._=1           /*"trueify" a boolean.*/                                 end  end   /*j*/ SA="["strip(strip(SA),'T',",")']'                 /*clean up and  [ ] it*/say;          say '       symmetric AND =' SA     /*show symmetric DIFF.*/                                       /*stick a fork in it, we're done.*/`

output using the in-program lists:

```──────────────list A = ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]
──────────────list B = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]

symmetric difference = ["Serena", "Jim"]

symmetric AND = ["John", "Bob", "Mary"]
```

version 1.5

This REXX version shows the symmetric difference and symmetric AND between two lists, the lists have items that have imbedded blanks in them as well as some punctuation, and also a null element.

`/*REXX pgm finds symmetric difference and symm. AND (between two lists).*/a.=0                                              /*falsify the booleans*/a= '["Zahn", "Yi", "Stands with a Fist", "", "Hungry Wolf", "Yi"]'b= '["Draag Ng [Jr.]", "Patzy", "Zahn", "Yi", "Robert the Bruce"]' ∙ ∙ ∙`

output using the in-program lists (which has imbedded blanks):

```──────────────list A = ["Zahn", "Yi", "Stands with a Fist", "", "Hungry Wolf", "Yi"]
──────────────list B = ["Draag Ng [Jr.]", "Patzy", "Zahn", "Yi", "Robert the Bruce"]

symmetric difference = ["Stands with a Fist", "", "Hungry Wolf", "Draag Ng [Jr.]", "Patzy"]

symmetric AND = ["Zahn", "Yi"]
```

version 2

`/* REXX ---------------------------------------------------------------* 14.12.2013 Walter Pachl  a short solution* 16.12.2013 fix duplicate element problem in input* 16.12.2013 added duplicate to t. * Handles only sets the elements of which do not contain blanks*--------------------------------------------------------------------*/s='John Bob Mary Serena't='Jim Mary John Bob Jim 'Say difference(s,t)Exitdifference:Parse Arg a,bres=''Do i=1 To words(a)  If wordpos(word(a,i),b)=0 Then     Call out word(a,i)  EndDo i=1 To words(b)  If wordpos(word(b,i),a)=0 Then     Call out word(b,i)  EndReturn strip(res)out: parse Arg eIf wordpos(e,res)=0 Then res=res eReturn`

Output:

`Serena Jim`

Ring

` alist = []blist = []alist = ["john", "bob", "mary", "serena"]blist = ["jim", "mary", "john", "bob"] alist2 = []for i = 1 to len(alist)     flag = 0        for j = 1 to len(blist)        if alist[i] = blist[j]  flag = 1 ok    next    if (flag = 0) add(alist2, alist[i]) oknext blist2 = []for j = 1 to len(alist)     flag = 0        for i = 1 to len(blist)        if alist[i] = blist[j]  flag = 1 ok    next    if (flag = 0) add(blist2, blist[j]) oknextsee "a xor b :" see nlsee alist2see blist2 see nlsee "a-b :" see nl see alist2 see nl see "b-a :" see nlsee blist2 see nl `

Ruby

With arrays:

`a = ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]b = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]# the union minus the intersection:p sym_diff = (a | b)-(a & b)  # => ["Serena", "Jim"]`

Class Set has a symmetric difference operator built-in:

`require 'set'a = Set["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"] #Set removes duplicatesb = Set["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"]p sym_diff = a ^ b # => #<Set: {"Jim", "Serena"}>`

Run BASIC

` setA\$ = "John,Bob,Mary,Serena"setB\$ = "Jim,Mary,John,Bob" x\$ = b\$(setA\$,setB\$)print word\$(x\$,1,",")c\$ = c\$ + x\$ x\$ = b\$(setB\$,setA\$)print word\$(x\$,1,",")print c\$;x\$endfunction b\$(a\$,b\$) i = 1 while word\$(a\$,i,",") <> ""  a1\$ = word\$(a\$,i,",")  j   = instr(b\$,a1\$)  if j <> 0 then b\$ = left\$(b\$,j-1) + mid\$(b\$,j+len(a1\$)+1)  i   = i + 1wendend function`
```Jim
Serena
Jim,Serena
```

Scala

`scala> val s1 = Set("John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena")s1: scala.collection.immutable.Set[java.lang.String] = Set(John, Serena, Bob, Mary) scala> val s2 = Set("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob")s2: scala.collection.immutable.Set[java.lang.String] = Set(Jim, Mary, John, Bob) scala> (s1 diff s2) union (s2 diff s1)res46: scala.collection.immutable.Set[java.lang.String] = Set(Serena, Jim)`

Scheme

Pure R7RS

In pure Scheme, to illustrate implementation of the algorithms:

` (import (scheme base)        (scheme write)) ;; -- given two sets represented as lists, return (A \ B)(define (a-without-b a b)  (cond ((null? a)          '())        ((member (car a) (cdr a)) ; drop head of a if it's a duplicate         (a-without-b (cdr a) b))        ((member (car a) b) ; head of a is in b so drop it         (a-without-b (cdr a) b))        (else ; head of a not in b, so keep it          (cons (car a) (a-without-b (cdr a) b))))) ;; -- given two sets represented as lists, return symmetric difference(define (symmetric-difference a b)  (append (a-without-b a b)          (a-without-b b a))) ;; -- test case(define A '(John Bob Mary Serena))(define B '(Jim Mary John Bob)) (display "A\\B: ") (display (a-without-b A B)) (newline)(display "B\\A: ") (display (a-without-b B A)) (newline)(display "Symmetric difference: ") (display (symmetric-difference A B)) (newline);; -- extra test as we are using lists(display "Symmetric difference 2: ") (display (symmetric-difference '(John Serena Bob Mary Serena)                               '(Jim Mary John Jim Bob))) (newline) `
Output:
```A\B: (Serena)
B\A: (Jim)
Symmetric difference: (Serena Jim)
Symmetric difference 2: (Serena Jim)
```

Using a standard library

Library: Scheme/SRFIs

SRFI 1 is one of the most popular SRFIs. It deals with lists, but also has functions treating lists as sets. The lset functions assume the inputs are sets, so we must delete duplicates if this property is not guaranteed on input.

` (import (scheme base)        (scheme write)        (srfi 1)) (define (a-without-b a b)  (lset-difference equal?                    (delete-duplicates a)                   (delete-duplicates b))) (define (symmetric-difference a b)  (lset-xor equal?             (delete-duplicates a)            (delete-duplicates b))) ;; -- test case(define A '(John Bob Mary Serena))(define B '(Jim Mary John Bob)) (display "A\\B: ") (display (a-without-b A B)) (newline)(display "B\\A: ") (display (a-without-b B A)) (newline)(display "Symmetric difference: ") (display (symmetric-difference A B)) (newline);; -- extra test as we are using lists(display "Symmetric difference 2: ") (display (symmetric-difference '(John Serena Bob Mary Serena)                               '(Jim Mary John Jim Bob))) (newline) `

Seed7

`\$ include "seed7_05.s7i"; const type: striSet is set of string; enable_output(striSet); const proc: main is func  local    const striSet: setA is {"John", "Bob" , "Mary", "Serena"};    const striSet: setB is {"Jim" , "Mary", "John", "Bob"   };  begin    writeln(setA >< setB);  end func;`

Output:

```{Jim, Serena}
```

Sidef

`var a = ["John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"];var b = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob"];a ^ b -> unique.dump.say;`
Output:
```["Serena", "Jim"]
```

Smalltalk

`|A B|A := Set new.B := Set new.A addAll: #( 'John' 'Bob' 'Mary' 'Serena' ).B addAll: #( 'Jim' 'Mary' 'John' 'Bob' ). ( (A - B) + (B - A) ) displayNl.`

Output is

```Set ('Jim' 'Serena' )
```

SQL/PostgreSQL

`CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION arrxor(anyarray,anyarray) RETURNS anyarray AS \$\$SELECT ARRAY(        (        SELECT r.elements        FROM    (                (SELECT 1,unnest(\$1))                UNION ALL                (SELECT 2,unnest(\$2))                ) AS r (arr, elements)        GROUP BY 1        HAVING MIN(arr) = MAX(arr)        ))\$\$ LANGUAGE SQL strict immutable;`

Usage:

`SELECT arrxor('{this,is,a,test}'::text[],'{also,part,of,a,test}'::text[]);`

Output:

```          arrxor
------------------------
also,is,of,part,this
```

Swift

Swift's `Set` type supports difference as well as symmetric difference operators.

Works with: Swift version 1.2+
`let setA : Set<String> = ["John", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena"]let setB : Set<String> = ["Jim", "Mary", "John", "Bob"]println(setA.exclusiveOr(setB)) // symmetric difference of A and Bprintln(setA.subtract(setB)) // elements in A that are not in B`
Output:
```["Jim", "Serena"]
["Serena"]
```

Tcl

It's common to represent sets as an unordered list of elements. (It is also the most efficient representation.) The `struct::set` package contains operations for working on such sets-as-lists.

Library: Tcllib (Package: struct::set)
`package require struct::set set A {John Bob Mary Serena}set B {Jim Mary John Bob} set AnotB   [struct::set difference \$A \$B]set BnotA   [struct::set difference \$B \$A]set SymDiff [struct::set union \$AnotB \$BnotA] puts "A\\B = \$AnotB"puts "B\\A = \$BnotA"puts "A\u2296B = \$SymDiff" # Of course, the library already has this operation directly...puts "Direct Check: [struct::set symdiff \$A \$B]"`
Produces this output:
```A\B = Serena
B\A = Jim
A⊖B = Jim Serena
Direct Check: Jim Serena
```

TUSCRIPT

`\$\$ MODE TUSCRIPTa="John'Bob'Mary'Serena"b="Jim'Mary'John'Bob" DICT names CREATE SUBMACRO checknames!var,valPRINT val,": ",var LOOP n=var  DICT names APPEND/QUIET n,num,cnt,val;" " ENDLOOPENDSUBMACRO CALL checknames (a,"a")CALL checknames (b,"b") DICT names UNLOAD names,num,cnt,val LOOP n=names,v=valPRINT n," in: ",vENDLOOP`

Output:

```a: John'Bob'Mary'Serena
b: Jim'Mary'John'Bob
John in: a b
Bob in: a b
Mary in: a b
Serena in: a
Jim in: b
```

UNIX Shell

Works with: Bash
`uniq() {  u=("[email protected]")  for ((i=0;i<\${#u[@]};i++)); do    for ((j=i+1;j<=\${#u[@]};j++)); do      [ "\${u[\$i]}" = "\${u[\$j]}" ] && unset u[\$i]    done  done  u=("\${u[@]}")} a=(John Serena Bob Mary Serena)b=(Jim Mary John Jim Bob) uniq "\${a[@]}"au=("\${u[@]}")uniq "\${b[@]}"bu=("\${u[@]}") ab=("\${au[@]}")for ((i=0;i<=\${#au[@]};i++)); do  for ((j=0;j<=\${#bu[@]};j++)); do    [ "\${ab[\$i]}" = "\${bu[\$j]}" ] && unset ab[\$i]  donedoneab=("\${ab[@]}") ba=("\${bu[@]}")for ((i=0;i<=\${#bu[@]};i++)); do  for ((j=0;j<=\${#au[@]};j++)); do    [ "\${ba[\$i]}" = "\${au[\$j]}" ] && unset ba[\$i]  donedoneba=("\${ba[@]}") sd=("\${ab[@]}" "\${ba[@]}") echo "Set A = \${a[@]}"echo "      = \${au[@]}"echo "Set B = \${b[@]}"echo "      = \${bu[@]}"echo "A - B = \${ab[@]}"echo "B - A = \${ba[@]}"echo "Symmetric difference = \${sd[@]}"`

Output:

```Set A = John Serena Bob Mary Serena
= John Bob Mary Serena
Set B = Jim Mary John Jim Bob
= Mary John Jim Bob
A - B = Serena
B - A = Jim
Symmetric difference = Serena Jim```

Ursala

`a = <'John','Bob','Mary','Serena'>b = <'Jim','Mary','John','Bob'> #cast %sLm main = <   'a': a,   'b': b,   'a not b': ~&j/a b,   'b not a': ~&j/b a,   'symmetric difference': ~&jrljTs/a b>`

output:

```<
'a': <'John','Bob','Mary','Serena'>,
'b': <'Jim','Mary','John','Bob'>,
'a not b': <'Serena'>,
'b not a': <'Jim'>,
'symmetric difference': <'Jim','Serena'>>```

zkl

`fcn setCommon(list1,list2){ list1.filter(list2.holds); }fcn sdiff(list1,list2)   { list1.extend(list2).copy().removeEach(setCommon(list1,list2)) }`
`a:=T("John","Bob","Mary","Serena");b:=T("Jim","Mary","John","Bob");sdiff(a,b).println();`

To deal with duplicates, use Remove duplicate elements#zkl:

`a:=T("John", "Serena", "Bob", "Mary", "Serena");b:=T("Jim", "Mary", "John", "Jim", "Bob");sdiff(a,b) : Utils.Helpers.listUnique(_).println();`
Output:
```L("Serena","Jim")
L("Serena","Jim")
```