What makes something iterable in python

Question

What makes something iterable in Python? ie. can loop over it with for

Is it possible for me to create an iterable class in Python? If so, how?

Answer 1

To make a class iterable, write an __iter__() method that returns an iterator:

class MyList(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.list = [42, 3.1415, "Hello World!"]
    def __iter__(self):
        return iter(self.list)

m = MyList()
for x in m:
    print(x)

prints

42
3.1415
Hello World!

The example uses a list iterator, but you could also write your own iterator by either making __iter__() a generator or by returning an instance of an iterator class that defines a __next__() method.

Answer 2

The Python documentation describes exactly this:

One method needs to be defined for container objects to provide iteration support:

container.__iter__()

Return an iterator object. The object is required to support the iterator protocol described below. If a container supports different types of iteration, additional methods can be provided to specifically request iterators for those iteration types. (An example of an object supporting multiple forms of iteration would be a tree structure which supports both breadth-first and depth-first traversal.) This method corresponds to the tp_iter slot of the type structure for Python objects in the Python/C API.

The iterator objects themselves are required to support the following two methods, which together form the iterator protocol:

iterator.__iter__()

Return the iterator object itself. This is required to allow both containers and iterators to be used with the for and in statements. This method corresponds to the tp_iter slot of the type structure for Python objects in the Python/C API.

iterator.next()

Return the next item from the container. If there are no further items, raise the StopIteration exception. This method corresponds to the tp_iternext slot of the type structure for Python objects in the Python/C API.

Answer 3

Any object with an __iter__() method is considered an iterable.

Additionally, any sequence (objects that have an __getitem__() method) could return an iterator. An iterator is an object with a __next__() method that returns the next object in the sequence and throws a StopIteration exception.

Answer 4

You'll want next() and __iter__() methods. Here's a nice little tutorial.