What exactly are iterator, iterable, and iteration?

Question

What is the most basic definition of \"iterable\", \"iterator\" and \"iteration\" in Python?

I have read multiple definitions but I am unable to identify the exact m

Answer 1

iterable = [1, 2] 

iterator = iter(iterable)

print(iterator.__next__())   

print(iterator.__next__())   

so,

1. iterable is an object that can be looped over. e.g. list , string , tuple etc.

2. using the iter function on our iterable object will return an iterator object.

3. now this iterator object has method named __next__ (in Python 3, or just next in Python 2) by which you can access each element of iterable.

so, OUTPUT OF ABOVE CODE WILL BE:

1

2

Answer 2

Iterables have a __iter__ method that instantiates a new iterator every time.

Iterators implement a __next__ method that returns individual items, and a __iter__ method that returns self .

Therefore, iterators are also iterable, but iterables are not iterators.

Luciano Ramalho, Fluent Python.

Answer 3

Iteration is a general term for taking each item of something, one after another. Any time you use a loop, explicit or implicit, to go over a group of items, that is iteration.

In Python, iterable and iterator have specific meanings.

An iterable is an object that has an __iter__ method which returns an iterator, or which defines a __getitem__ method that can take sequential indexes starting from zero (and raises an IndexError when the indexes are no longer valid). So an iterable is an object that you can get an iterator from.

An iterator is an object with a next (Python 2) or __next__ (Python 3) method.

Whenever you use a for loop, or map, or a list comprehension, etc. in Python, the next method is called automatically to get each item from the iterator, thus going through the process of iteration.

A good place to start learning would be the iterators section of the tutorial and the iterator types section of the standard types page. After you understand the basics, try the iterators section of the Functional Programming HOWTO.

Answer 4

I don't think that you can get it much simpler than the documentation, however I'll try:

• Iterable is something that can be iterated over. In practice it usually means a sequence e.g. something that has a beginning and an end and some way to go through all the items in it.

• You can think Iterator as a helper pseudo-method (or pseudo-attribute) that gives (or holds) the next (or first) item in the iterable. (In practice it is just an object that defines the method next())

• Iteration is probably best explained by the Merriam-Webster definition of the word :

b : the repetition of a sequence of computer instructions a specified number of times or until a condition is met — compare recursion

Answer 5

The above answers are great, but as most of what I've seen, don't stress the distinction enough for people like me.

Also, people tend to get "too Pythonic" by putting definitions like "X is an object that has __foo__() method" before. Such definitions are correct--they are based on duck-typing philosophy, but the focus on methods tends to get between when trying to understand the concept in its simplicity.

So I add my version.

---

In natural language,

• iteration is the process of taking one element at a time in a row of elements.

In Python,

• iterable is an object that is, well, iterable, which simply put, means that it can be used in iteration, e.g. with a for loop. How? By using iterator. I'll explain below.

• ... while iterator is an object that defines how to actually do the iteration--specifically what is the next element. That's why it must have next() method.

Iterators are themselves also iterable, with the distinction that their __iter__() method returns the same object (self), regardless of whether or not its items have been consumed by previous calls to next().

---

So what does Python interpreter think when it sees for x in obj: statement?

Look, a for loop. Looks like a job for an iterator... Let's get one. ... There's this obj guy, so let's ask him.

"Mr. obj, do you have your iterator?" (... calls iter(obj), which calls obj.__iter__(), which happily hands out a shiny new iterator _i.)

OK, that was easy... Let's start iterating then. (x = _i.next() ... x = _i.next()...)

Since Mr. obj succeeded in this test (by having certain method returning a valid iterator), we reward him with adjective: you can now call him "iterable Mr. obj".

However, in simple cases, you don't normally benefit from having iterator and iterable separately. So you define only one object, which is also its own iterator. (Python does not really care that _i handed out by obj wasn't all that shiny, but just the obj itself.)

This is why in most examples I've seen (and what had been confusing me over and over), you can see:

class IterableExample(object):

    def __iter__(self):
        return self

    def next(self):
        pass

instead of

class Iterator(object):
    def next(self):
        pass

class Iterable(object):
    def __iter__(self):
        return Iterator()

There are cases, though, when you can benefit from having iterator separated from the iterable, such as when you want to have one row of items, but more "cursors". For example when you want to work with "current" and "forthcoming" elements, you can have separate iterators for both. Or multiple threads pulling from a huge list: each can have its own iterator to traverse over all items. See @Raymond's and @glglgl's answers above.

Imagine what you could do:

class SmartIterableExample(object):

    def create_iterator(self):
        # An amazingly powerful yet simple way to create arbitrary
        # iterator, utilizing object state (or not, if you are fan
        # of functional), magic and nuclear waste--no kittens hurt.
        pass    # don't forget to add the next() method

    def __iter__(self):
        return self.create_iterator()

Notes:

• I'll repeat again: iterator is not iterable. Iterator cannot be used as a "source" in for loop. What for loop primarily needs is __iter__() (that returns something with next()).

• Of course, for is not the only iteration loop, so above applies to some other constructs as well (while...).

• Iterator's next() can throw StopIteration to stop iteration. Does not have to, though, it can iterate forever or use other means.

• In the above "thought process", _i does not really exist. I've made up that name.

• There's a small change in Python 3.x: next() method (not the built-in) now must be called __next__(). Yes, it should have been like that all along.

• You can also think of it like this: iterable has the data, iterator pulls the next item

Disclaimer: I'm not a developer of any Python interpreter, so I don't really know what the interpreter "thinks". The musings above are solely demonstration of how I understand the topic from other explanations, experiments and real-life experience of a Python newbie.

Answer 6

Iterable:- something that is iterable is iterable; like sequences like lists ,strings etc. Also it has either the __getitem__ method or an __iter__ method. Now if we use iter() function on that object, we'll get an iterator.

Iterator:- When we get the iterator object from the iter() function; we call __next__() method (in python3) or simply next() (in python2) to get elements one by one. This class or instance of this class is called an iterator.

From docs:-

The use of iterators pervades and unifies Python. Behind the scenes, the for statement calls iter() on the container object. The function returns an iterator object that defines the method __next__() which accesses elements in the container one at a time. When there are no more elements, __next__() raises a StopIteration exception which tells the for loop to terminate. You can call the __next__() method using the next() built-in function; this example shows how it all works:

>>> s = 'abc'
>>> it = iter(s)
>>> it
<iterator object at 0x00A1DB50>
>>> next(it)
'a'
>>> next(it)
'b'
>>> next(it)
'c'
>>> next(it)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
    next(it)
StopIteration

Ex of a class:-

class Reverse:
    """Iterator for looping over a sequence backwards."""
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data
        self.index = len(data)
    def __iter__(self):
        return self
    def __next__(self):
        if self.index == 0:
            raise StopIteration
        self.index = self.index - 1
        return self.data[self.index]


>>> rev = Reverse('spam')
>>> iter(rev)
<__main__.Reverse object at 0x00A1DB50>
>>> for char in rev:
...     print(char)
...
m
a
p
s