What is the iterator protocol in Python?
The iterator protocol in Python is a protocol that defines the iteration behavior of objects. According to the iterator protocol, an iterable object needs to implement two methods: the __iter__() method and the __next__() method.
- __iter__() method: This method returns an iterator object for carrying out the actual iteration. It is typically sufficient to just return ‘self’ in the __iter__() method of an iterable object.
- __next__() method: This method returns the next element in the iterable object. When all elements have been iterated through, it raises a StopIteration exception. Each time the __next__() method is called, the iterator should update its internal state to point to the next element.
By implementing the iterator protocol, an object can support iteration operations, such as being used in a for loop. Common iterable objects include lists, tuples, dictionaries, etc. Some built-in data structures and functions in Python also implement the iterator protocol, such as range(), enumerate(), etc.
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