["python","list","performance","data-structures","set"]
Python Sets vs Lists

In Python, which data structure is more efficient/speedy? Assuming that order is not important to me and I would be checking for duplicates anyway, is a Python set slower than a Python list?
It depends on what you are intending to do with it. Sets are significantly faster when it comes to determining if an object is present in the set (as in x in s), but its elements are not ordered so you cannot access items by index as you would in a list. Sets are also somewhat slower to iterate over in practice. You can use the timeit module to see which is faster for your situation.