str_range = '4-7, 9, 12, 15' ranges = str_range.split(',') lst = [] for r in ranges: vals = r.split('-') if len(vals) == 2: lst.extend(range(int(vals[0]), int(vals[1]) + 1)) else: lst.append(int(vals[0])) set_range = set(lst) all_elems = set(range(min(lst), max(lst))) print all_elems - set_range