Build a vocabulary table
P42.from-paper-to-notebook.02 · Audience: guest, language-pro, it-ml · Prerequisites: Tally the words in a text
An interpreter builds a glossary: jot down every specialist term, drop the
repeats, put them in order. Done by hand it is fiddly — you cross out the same
word twice, lose your alphabetical place, miss one. Two small tools do the whole
clean-up for you: a set removes duplicates, and sorted puts what is
left in order.
ⓘ Concept: set() keeps only the distinct values
set(...) throws away the repeats and keeps one of each. To de-duplicate a list of terms and read them back in a fixed order, sort the set:UNIQUE = sorted(set(terms))A raw list of seven jottings with three repeats becomes four distinct terms, in A–Z order — in one line.
Why it matters — De-duplicating by hand is exactly where a glossary goes wrong — the same term written twice, slightly differently. A set does it perfectly, every time.
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🎓 Practice ladder
1 graded rung · ~7 minYour turn: de-duplicate and sort the terms, then loop to build a vocabulary table pairing each term with its length. Press Run.
Explorer rung — build a vocabulary table
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Where next?
Later in From Paper to Notebook