Setclear

Setclear is a programming term used to describe a function or method that empties a set data structure or resets a state to an empty configuration. It is not a formal keyword in a single language; rather, developers adopt setclear, clear, or reset as names for these operations depending on the API or library in use. The common idea is to remove all elements from a set while leaving the container itself ready for reuse.

In typical implementations, a clear operation removes each element or resets internal storage so the set becomes empty. Depending on the language and library, the operation may also release resources or invalidate iterators or references associated with the previous contents. Some APIs distinguish between clearing and reinitializing: clearing preserves the container’s capacity or internal structure, while reinitializing may allocate a fresh empty storage.

Usage examples vary by language. In Java, for example, a Set has a clear() method that empties the set. In Python, a set can be cleared with s.clear(), returning None. In C++, a set or unordered_set provides clear() to remove all elements while leaving the container usable for new inserts. While the term setclear is sometimes used informally in documentation or code comments, most languages standardize the operation under a clear or reset method with behavior specified in the respective API documentation.

Performance characteristics depend on the implementation. Clearing a set may be proportional to the number of elements or, in some designs, may reset internal structures in O(1) time. In all cases, the result is an empty, reusable set. See also: clear, reset, empty set.