Build a Basic Python Iterator

Question

How would one create an iterative function (or iterator object) in python?

Answer 1

This is an iterable function without yield. It make use of the iter function and a closure which keeps it's state in a mutable (list) in the enclosing scope for python 2.

def count(low, high):
    counter = [0]
    def tmp():
        val = low + counter[0]
        if val < high:
            counter[0] += 1
            return val
        return None
    return iter(tmp, None)

For Python 3, closure state is kept in an immutable in the enclosing scope and nonlocal is used in local scope to update the state variable.

def count(low, high):
    counter = 0
    def tmp():
        nonlocal counter
        val = low + counter
        if val < high:
            counter += 1
            return val
        return None
    return iter(tmp, None)  

Test;

for i in count(1,10):
    print(i)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9