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The adafruit_itertools module contains the main iterator building block functions. This provides you with everything you should need to take full advantage of iterators in your code. This section enumerates the functions present in the module, describing each and providing examples. The list function is used to pull out the values in cases where an iterator is returned. In cases where the returned iterator is infinite, take (from adafruit_itertools_extras) is used to pull out a fixed number of values. take returns those values in a list.

accumulate(iterable, func=lambda x, y: x + y)

Make an iterator that generates accumulated sums, or accumulated results of other binary functions (specified via the optional funcargument). If func is supplied, it should be a function of two arguments that returns a value of the same type. Elements of iterable may be any type that can be accepted as arguments to func. (For example, with the default operation of addition, elements may be any addable type.) If iterableis empty, no values will be generated.

>>> list(accumulate(range(10)))
[0, 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45]

>>> accumulate(range(1, 10), lambda x, y: x * y))
[1, 2, 6, 24, 120, 720, 5040, 40320, 362880]

chain(*iterables)

Make an iterator that generates elements from the first iterable until it is exhausted, then proceeds to the next iterable, until all of them are exhausted. Used for treating consecutive sequences as a single sequence.

>>> list(chain('ABC', 'DEF'))
['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F']

chain_from_iterable(iterables)

An alternate approach to chain(). Iterables to be chanined are generated from a single iterable argument.

So, for example, instead of passing in multiple strings as you would with chain(), you can pass in a list of strings.

>>> list(chain_from_iterable(['ABC', 'DEF']))
['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F']

combinations(iterable, r)

Generate r length subsequences of elements from iterable. Combinations are generated in lexicographic sort order (the order they appear in iterable). So, if the iterable is sorted, the combination tuples will be produced in sorted order.

Elements are treated as unique based on their position, not on their value. So if the input elements are unique, there will be no repeat values in each combination.

>>> list(combinations('ABCD', 2))
[('A', 'B'), ('A', 'C'), ('A', 'D'), ('B', 'C'), ('B', 'D'), ('C', 'D')]

>>> list(combinations(range(4), 3))
[(0, 1, 2), (0, 1, 3), (0, 2, 3), (1, 2, 3)]

combinations_with_replacement(iterable, r)

Generate r length subsequences of elements from iterable allowing individual elements to be repeated more than once.

Combinations are generated in lexicographic sort order. So, if iterable is sorted, the combination tuples will be produced in sorted order.

Elements are treated as unique based on their position, not on their value. So if the input elements are unique, the generated combinations will also be unique.

>>> list(combinations_with_replacement('ABCD', 2)) 
[('A', 'A'), ('A', 'B'), ('A', 'C'), ('A', 'D'), ('B', 'B'), ('B', 'C'), ('B', 'D'), ('C', 'C'), ('C', 'D'), ('D', 'D')]

>>> list(combinations_with_replacement(range(4), 3))
[(0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1), (0, 0, 2), (0, 0, 3), (0, 1, 1), (0, 1, 2), (0, 1, 3), (0, 2, 2), (0, 2, 3), (0, 3, 3), (1, 1, 1), (1, 1, 2), (1, 1, 3), (1, 2, 2), (1, 2, 3), (1, 3, 3), (2, 2, 2), (2, 2, 3), (2, 3, 3), (3, 3, 3)]

compress(data, selectors)

Make an iterator that filters elements from data returning only those that have a corresponding element in selectors that evaluates to True. Stops when either the data or selectors iterables has been exhausted.

>>> list(compress('ABCDEF', [1,0,1,0,1,1]))
['A', 'C', 'E', 'F']

count(start=0, step=1)

Make an infinite iterator that returns evenly spaced values starting with number start. The spacing between values is set by step. Often used as an argument to map() to generate consecutive data values. Also, used with zip() to add sequence numbers.

>>> take(5, count())
[0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> take(5, count(3))
[3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
>>> take(5, count(1, 2))
[1, 3, 5, 7, 9]

cycle(iterable)

Make an iterator returning elements from the iterable and saving a copy of each. When the iterable is exhausted, return elements from the saved copy. Repeats indefinitely.

>>> take(10, cycle("ABCD"))
['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'A', 'B']

dropwhile(predicate, iterable)

Make an iterator that drops elements from iterable as long as predicate is true; afterwards, generates every element. Note, the iterator does not produce any output until predicate first becomes false, so it may have a lengthy start-up time.

>>> list(dropwhile(lambda x: x<5, [1,4,6,4,1]))
[6, 4, 1]

filterfalse(predicate, iterable)

Make an iterator that filters elements from iterable generating only those for which predicate is False. If predicate is None, return the items that are logically false, i.e. bool(x) evaluates to False.

>>> list(filterfalse(lambda x: x%2, range(10)))
[0, 2, 4, 6, 8]

groupby(iterable, key_func=None)

Make an iterator that generates consecutive keys and groups from iterable. key_func is a function computing a key value for each element. If not specified or is None, key_func defaults to an identity function that generates the element unchanged. Generally, it is desirable that iterable is already sorted on the same key function.

The operation of groupby() is similar to the uniq filter in Unix. It generates a break or new group every time the value of the key function changes (which is why it is usually necessary to have sorted the data using the same key function).

The returned group is itself an iterator that shares the underlying iterable with groupby(). Because the source is shared, when the groupby() object is advanced, the previous group is no longer visible. So, if that data is needed later, it should be stored as a list, like so:

groups = []
uniquekeys = []
data = sorted(data, key=keyfunc)
for k, g in groupby(data, keyfunc):
    groups.append(list(g)) # Store group iterator as a list
    uniquekeys.append(k)

>>> [k for k, g in groupby('AAAABBBCCDAABBB')]
['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'A', 'B']
>>> [list(g) for k, g in groupby('AAAABBBCCD')]
[['A', 'A', 'A', 'A'], ['B', 'B', 'B'], ['C', 'C'], ['D']]

Let's do something a bit more useful. Say we have a list of numbers and we want to divide them up by some criteria. For simplicity let's go with odd/even. We can write a classifier function to do this:

>>> def even_odd(x):
...     if x % 2 == 0:
...         return 'even'
...     else:
...         return 'odd'

>>> even_odd(2)
'even'
>>> even_odd(5)
'odd'

Next, let's create some random integers:

numbers = list(repeatfunc(lambda: random.randint(0, 100), 25)))
>>> numbers
[12, 17, 0, 82, 37, 34, 3, 41, 53, 60, 62, 35, 27, 75, 43, 31, 98, 56, 97, 26, 73, 43, 62, 74, 72]

We can go ahead and group those using our even/odd function:

>>> for k, g in groupby(numbers, even_odd):
...     print('{0}: {1}'.format(k, list(g)))
...
even: [12]
odd: [17]
even: [0, 82]
odd: [37]
even: [34]
odd: [3, 41, 53]
even: [60, 62]
odd: [35, 27, 75, 43, 31]
even: [98, 56]
odd: [97]
even: [26]
odd: [73, 43]
even: [62, 74, 72]

Possibly useful, depending on the need, but we might want one group of even numbers, and one of odd. To get that we need to sort them based on our grouping function:

>>> sorted(numbers, key=even_odd)
[72, 98, 62, 60, 56, 74, 62, 26, 0, 34, 82, 12, 97, 41, 17, 73, 43, 37, 35, 3, 53, 27, 31, 43, 75]

We can now group that:

>>> for k, g in groupby(sorted(numbers, key=even_odd), even_odd):
...     print('{0}: {1}'.format(k, list(g)))
...
even: [72, 98, 62, 60, 56, 74, 62, 26, 0, 34, 82, 12]
odd: [97, 41, 17, 73, 43, 37, 35, 3, 53, 27, 31, 43, 75]

islice(iterable, start, stop=None, step=1)

Make an iterator that generates selected elements from iterable.

If start is non-zero and stop is unspecified, then the value for start is used as stop, and start is taken to be 0. Thus the supplied value specifies how many elements are to be generated, starting the the first one. In this sense, it functions as take.

If stop is specified, then elements from iterable are skipped until start is reached. Afterward, elements are generated consecutively unless step is set higher than one which results in items being skipped. If stop is None, then iteration continues until iterable is exhausted, if at all; otherwise, it stops at the specified position. If stop is specified and is not None, and is not greater than start then nothing is generated.

Unlike regular slicing, islice() does not support negative values for start, stop, or step. It can be used to extract related fields from data where the internal structure has been flattened (for example, a multi-line report may list a name field on every third line).

>>> list(islice('ABCDEF', 3))
['A', 'B', 'C']
>>> list(islice('ABCDEF', 3, stop=None))
['D', 'E', 'F']
>>> list(islice('ABCDEF', 3, stop=2))
[]
>>> list(islice('ABCDEF', 3, stop=4))
['D']
>>> list(islice('ABCDEF', 0, stop=None, step=2))
['A', 'C', 'E']

permutations(iterable, r=None)

Return successive r length permutations of elements in iterable.

If r is not specified or is None, then it defaults to the length of iterable and all possible full-length permutations are generated.

Permutations are generated in lexicographic sort order. So, if iterable is sorted, the permutation tuples will be produced in sorted order.

Elements are treated as unique based on their position, not on their value. So if the input elements are unique, there will be no repeat values in each permutation.

>>> list(permutations('ABCD', 2))
[('A', 'B'), ('A', 'C'), ('A', 'D'), ('B', 'A'), ('B', 'C'), ('B', 'D'), ('C', 'A'), ('C', 'B'), ('C', 'D'), ('D', 'A'), ('D', 'B'), ('D', 'C')]
>>> list(permutations(range(3)))
[(0, 1, 2), (0, 2, 1), (1, 0, 2), (1, 2, 0), (2, 0, 1), (2, 1, 0)]

product(*iterables, repeat=1)

Cartesian product of iterables.

Roughly equivalent to nested for-loops in a generator expression. For example, product(A, B) generates the same as ((x,y) for x in A for y inB).

The nested loops cycle like an odometer with the rightmost element advancing on every iteration. This pattern creates a lexicographic ordering so that if iterables are sorted, the product tuples
are emitted in sorted order.

To compute the product of an iterable with itself, specify the number of repetitions with the optional repeat keyword argument. For example, product(A, repeat=4) means the same as product(A, A, A, A).

>>> list(product('ABCD', 'xy'))
[('A', 'x'), ('A', 'y'), ('B', 'x'), ('B', 'y'), ('C', 'x'), ('C', 'y'), ('D', 'x'), ('D', 'y')]
>>> list(product(range(2), repeat=3))
[(0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1), (0, 1, 0), (0, 1, 1), (1, 0, 0), (1, 0, 1), (1, 1, 0), (1, 1, 1)]

repeat(object, times=None)

Make an iterator that generates object over and over again. Runs indefinitely unless the times argument is specified. Used as argument tomap() for invariant parameters to the called function. Also used with zip()to create an invariant part of a tuple record.

>>> list(repeat(1, 5))
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1]

starmap(function, iterable)

Make an iterator that computes function using arguments obtained from
iterable. Used instead of map() when argument parameters are already
grouped in tuples from a single iterable (the data has been “pre-zipped”).
The difference between map() and starmap() parallels the distinction between
function(a,b) and function(*c).

>>> list(map(lambda x, y: x + y, [1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]))
[5, 7, 9]
>>> list(starmap(lambda x, y: x + y, zip([1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6])))
[5, 7, 9]
>>> list(starmap(lambda x, y: x + y, [[1, 4], [2, 5], [3, 6]]))
[5, 7, 9]

takewhile(predicate, iterable)

Make an iterator that generates elements from iterable as long as predicate is true when applied to them.

>>> list(takewhile(lambda x: x<5, [1,4,6,4,1]))
[1, 4]

tee(iterable, n=2)

Return n independent iterators from a single iterable. The resulting iterators contain the elements from the original by generate them completely independently.

>>> a, b = tee("ABCDE", 2)
>>> next(a)
'A'
>>> next(b)
'A'
>>> take(2, a)
['B', 'C']
>>> take(3, b)
['B', 'C', 'D']

zip_longest(*iterables, fillvalue=None)

Make an iterator that aggregates elements from each of the iterables. If the iterables are of uneven length, missing values are filled-in with fillvalue. Iteration continues until the longest iterable is exhausted. Contrast this with the builtin function zip which will stop when the shortest iterable is exhausted.

>>> list(zip_longest('ABCD', 'xy', fillvalue='-'))
[('A', 'x'), ('B', 'y'), ('C', '-'), ('D', '-')]

This guide was first published on Mar 25, 2019. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Itertools) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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