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Python Syntax
Python Comments ADVERTISEMENT
Python Variables
Python Data Types
Python Numbers
Python Casting
Python Strings
Python Booleans
Python Iterators
Python Operators
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Python Lists
Python Tuples
Python Sets
Python Dictionaries Python Iterators
Python If...Else
Python While Loops An iterator is an object that contains a countable number of values.
Python For Loops
An iterator is an object that can be iterated upon, meaning that you can traverse through all the values.
Python Functions
Python Lambda Technically, in Python, an iterator is an object which implements the iterator protocol, which consist of the methods __iter__()
Python Arrays and __next__() .
Python Classes/Objects
Python Inheritance
Python Iterators
Python Polymorphism
Iterator vs Iterable
Python Scope Lists, tuples, dictionaries, and sets are all iterable objects. They are iterable containers which you can get an iterator from.
Python Modules
Python Dates All these objects have a iter() method which is used to get an iterator:

Python Math

Example Get your own Python Server

Return an iterator from a tuple, and print each value:

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

myit = iter(mytuple)

print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))

Try it Yourself »
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Even strings are iterable objects, and can return an iterator:

Example

Strings are also iterable objects, containing a sequence of characters:

mystr = "banana"
myit = iter(mystr)

print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))

Try it Yourself »

Looping Through an Iterator

We can also use a for loop to iterate through an iterable object:

Example
Iterate the values of a tuple:

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

for x in mytuple: ADVERTISEMENT

print(x)

Try it Yourself »

Example
Iterate the characters of a string:

mystr = "banana"

for x in mystr:
print(x)

Try it Yourself »

The for loop actually creates an iterator object and executes the next() method for each loop.

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Create an Iterator
To create an object/class as an iterator you have to implement the methods __iter__() and __next__() to your object.

As you have learned in the Python Classes/Objects chapter, all classes have a function called __init__() , which allows you to do
some initializing when the object is being created.

The __iter__() method acts similar, you can do operations (initializing etc.), but must always return the iterator object itself.

The __next__() method also allows you to do operations, and must return the next item in the sequence.

Example
Create an iterator that returns numbers, starting with 1, and each sequence will increase by one (returning 1,2,3,4,5 etc.):

class MyNumbers:
def __iter__(self):
self.a = 1
return self

def __next__(self):
x = self.a
self.a += 1
return x

myclass = MyNumbers()
myiter = iter(myclass)

print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))

Try it Yourself »

StopIteration
The example above would continue forever if you had enough next() statements, or if it was used in a for loop.

To prevent the iteration from going on forever, we can use the StopIteration statement.

In the __next__() method, we can add a terminating condition to raise an error if the iteration is done a specified number of
times:

Example
Stop after 20 iterations:

class MyNumbers:
def __iter__(self):
self.a = 1
return self

def __next__(self):
if self.a <= 20:
x = self.a
self.a += 1
return x
else:
raise StopIteration

myclass = MyNumbers()
myiter = iter(myclass)

for x in myiter:
print(x)

Try it Yourself »

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