strange behavior of zip function in python [duplicate]

Question

a = [1,2]
b = ["cat", "dog"]
ab = zip(a, b)

for element in ab:
    print(element)

(1, 'cat')
(2, 'dog')

but, I committed an error and wrote this:

for element in ab:
    print(ab)

then I wrote:

for element in ab:
    print(element)

that did not print any output, so my question is, basically, why?

you have exhausted your iterator, zip is usable only once, if you want to use it more than once, make that a list — python_user
– python_user, Commented Apr 15, 2021 at 15:26

Emi OB · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-15 15:27:36Z

0

This is because a and b are of type list, whereas ab is a zip object so doesn't behave in the same way. Try converting ab to a list

AB = list(ab)
print(AB)

answered Apr 15, 2021 at 15:27

Emi OB

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