Python Program to Find the Intersection of Two Arrays

1. Introduction

Finding the intersection of two arrays involves identifying the common elements between them. This operation is useful in various computing scenarios, such as database queries, data analysis, and algorithm design, where it's essential to determine overlapping data points between datasets. This blog post will demonstrate a Python program to find the intersection of two arrays, focusing on simplicity and efficiency.

2. Program Steps

1. Define two arrays containing the elements to be compared.

2. Use a method to identify the common elements between the two arrays.

3. Display the intersection of the arrays, i.e., the common elements.

3. Code Program

# Step 1: Define two arrays
array1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
array2 = [4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

# Step 2: Find the intersection
# Convert the arrays to sets to remove duplicates and use set intersection
intersection = list(set(array1) & set(array2))

# Step 3: Display the intersection
print(f"The intersection of the two arrays is: {intersection}")

Output:

The intersection of the two arrays is: [4, 5]

Explanation:

1. The program starts by initializing two arrays, array1 and array2, with distinct elements. These arrays represent the datasets we want to compare to find common elements.

2. To find the intersection, the program converts both arrays to sets. This conversion automatically removes any duplicate elements within each array. It then uses the set intersection operation (&) to find elements present in both sets. The result is a set of elements that are common to both arrays.

3. The intersection set is converted back to a list to display the result in a more familiar list format.

4. The program prints the intersection, effectively showing the common elements between the two arrays. This approach is efficient because set operations in Python are optimized for performance, especially for large datasets.