Kent Johnson wrote: > Dave Kuhlman wrote: > >> I thought xrange() returned an iterator. I was wrong. >> >> Actually xrange() returns an xrange object which, according to the >> docs, is "an opaque sequence". >> > > Interesting. So an xrange object is an iterable sequence, not an iterator. > >
It's a fine distinction to the language lawyers. Most of the time I see the term "iterator" used, the speaker is referring to an "iterable container", which is a container that defines an "__iter__()" method. That method returns the actual "iterator object", i.e. an object that implements an "__iter__()" and a "next()" method which returns the next item from the container until exhausted, then raises StopIteration. So, xrange doesn't implement the next() method, but the object returned by xrange.__iter__() does, and *that* is the iterator object, though xrange can be referred to as "iterable". Just semantics, but important when trying to be ultra-clear. :-) e. _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
