We are given a set and our task is to find the maximum and minimum elements from the given set.For example, if we have a = {3, 1, 7, 5, 9}, the maximum element should be 9, and the minimum element should be 1.

Let’s explore different methods to do it:

1. Using min() & max() function

The built-inmin() andmax() function in Python can be used to get the minimum or maximum element of all the elements in a set. It iterates through all the elements and returns the minimum or maximum element.

s1={4,12,10,9,4,13}print("Minimum element: ",min(s1))print("Maximum element: ",max(s1))

Minimum element:  4Maximum element:  13

Explanation: min() andmax() returns the minimun and maximum elements respectively of the set here.

Note: Using min() or max() function on a heterogeneous set (containing multiple data types), such as {"Geeks", 11, 21, 'm'}, raises a 'TypeError' because Python cannot compare different data types.

2. Using sorted() function

The built-insorted() function in Python can be used to get the maximum or minimum of all the elements in a set. We can use it to sort the set and then access the first and the last element for min and max values.

s={5,3,9,1,7}# Sorting the set (converts it into a sorted list)sorted_s=sorted(s)print("Minimum element: ",sorted_s[0])print("Maximum element: ",sorted_s[-1])

Minimum element:  1Maximum element:  9

Explanation: sorted()function returns a new list with elements arranged in ascending order. The first element,sorted_s[0], represents the minimum value, while the last element,sorted_s[-1], gives the maximum value.

3. Using loops

We can iterate through thesetwhile maintaining min and max variables, updating them as needed, to determine the minimum and maximum elements.

s={5,3,9,1,7}# Initialize min and max with extreme valuesmin_val=float('inf')max_val=float('-inf')# Iterate through the set to find min and maxforeleins:ifele<min_val:min_val=eleifele>max_val:max_val=eleprint("Minimum element:",min_val)print("Maximum element:",max_val)

Minimum element: 1Maximum element: 9

Explanation:

• float('inf') andfloat('-inf') are used to initializemin_valandmax_valwith extreme maximum and minimum values respectively, ensuring any element in the set will update them.
• loop iterates through each element, updatingmin_valif the current element issmallerandmax_valif it islargerand after complete iteration we get our max and min values.