Getting first n unique elements from Python list

Question

I have a python list where elements can repeat.

>>> a = [1,2,2,3,3,4,5,6]

I want to get the first n unique elements from

Answer 1

Here is a Pythonic approach using itertools.takewhile():

In [95]: from itertools import takewhile

In [96]: seen = set()

In [97]: set(takewhile(lambda x: seen.add(x) or len(seen) <= 4, a))
Out[97]: {1, 2, 3, 4}