# xarray.CFTimeIndex.symmetric_difference

`CFTimeIndex.``symmetric_difference`(other, result_name=None, sort=None)

  Compute the symmetric difference of two Index objects.

  Parameters:

  - other (Index or array-like) –
  - result_name (str) –
  - sort (False or None, default None) –

    Whether to sort the resulting index. By default, the values are attempted to be sorted, but any TypeError from incomparable elements is caught by pandas.

    - None : Attempt to sort the result, but catch any TypeErrors from comparing incomparable elements.
    - False : Do not sort the result.

    New in version 0.24.0.

    Changed in version 0.24.1: Changed the default value from `True` to `None` (without change in behaviour).

  Returns: | symmetric_difference
  Return type: | Index

  Notes

  `symmetric_difference` contains elements that appear in either `idx1` or `idx2` but not both. Equivalent to the Index created by `idx1.difference(idx2) | idx2.difference(idx1)` with duplicates dropped.

  Examples

      >>> idx1 = pd.Index([1, 2, 3, 4])
      >>> idx2 = pd.Index([2, 3, 4, 5])
      >>> idx1.symmetric_difference(idx2)
      Int64Index([1, 5], dtype='int64')

  You can also use the `^` operator:

      >>> idx1 ^ idx2
      Int64Index([1, 5], dtype='int64')