Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the Python iter() built-in function effectively.
Introduction to the Python iter function #
The iter() function returns an iterator of a given object:
iter(object)Code language: Python (python)The iter() function requires an argument that can be an iterable or a sequence. In general, the object argument can be any object that supports either iteration or sequence protocol.
When you call the iter() function on an object, the function first looks for an __iter__() method of that object.
If the __iter__() method exists, the iter() function calls it to get an iterator. Otherwise, the iter() function will look for a __getitem__() method.
If the __getitem__() is available, the iter() function creates an iterator object and returns that object. Otherwise, it raises a TypeError exception.
The following flowchart illustrates how the iter() function works: