Set.prototype.symmetricDifference()
Limited availability
The symmetricDifference()
method of Set
instances takes a set and returns a new set containing elements which are in either this set or the given set, but not in both.
Syntax
symmetricDifference(other)
Return value
A new Set
object containing elements which are in either this set or the other
set, but not in both.
Description
In mathematical notation, symmetric difference is defined as:
And using Venn diagram:

symmetricDifference()
accepts set-like objects as the other
parameter. It requires this
to be an actual Set
instance, because it directly retrieves the underlying data stored in this
without invoking any user code. Then, it iterates over other
by calling its keys()
method, and constructs a new set with all elements in this
that are not seen in other
, and all elements in other
that are not seen in this
.
The order of elements in the returned set is first those in this
followed by those in other
.
Using symmetricDifference()
The following example computes the symmetric difference between the set of even numbers (<10) and the set of perfect squares (<10). The result is the set of numbers that are either even or a perfect square, but not both.
const evens = new Set([2, 4, 6, 8]);
const squares = new Set([1, 4, 9]);
console.log(evens.symmetricDifference(squares));
Specifications
Browser compatibility
|
Desktop |
Mobile |
Server |
|
Chrome |
Edge |
Firefox |
Opera |
Safari |
Chrome Android |
Firefox for Android |
Opera Android |
Safari on IOS |
Samsung Internet |
WebView Android |
Deno |
Node.js |
symmetricDifference |
No |
No |
preview |
No |
17 |
No |
No |
No |
17 |
No |
No |
No |
No |