I am taking a second programming course in Java and am currently
attempting to apply what I have learned using Python instead. One
thing that is puzzling me is how to use an iterator.
I am writing a module containing everything I'd need for canonical
linked lists. One particularly useful feature would be to use a for
loop over the whole structure. For this I have learned the benefits of
iterators. I have read a few book entries on Python iterators, as well
as an online article by David Mertz, I believe, and PEP 234, and I may
be lacking some insight but I am still confused about one thing. How
does the iteration know where to begin?
AFAIU, in my LinkedList class, I can either have the LinkedList be its
own iterator by making its __iter__() method return self and defining
a next() method, or I can have a separate iterator called from
LinkedList's __iter__(). My view is that it would be best to have the
LinkedList be its own iterator - is that the case? Or is an external
iterator preferable in this case?
My problem with implementing the former comes with this: in LinkedList
I would have:
....
def __init__(self):
return self
....
def next(self):
if self.__current. next == None:
raise StopIteration
self.__current = self.__current. next
return self.__current. next
....
Now, is this good in the eyes of more experienced programmers? Also,
do I really want to dedicate an instance variable to keep track of
where to begin iteration (if __current is used for other purposes,
iteration could conceivably begin anywhere right?)? Does this suggest
that I should have a separate LinkedListItera tor class? And if I do
have that separate class, do I make the LinkedList.__it er__() pass on
to LinkedListItera tor's constructor the head node of LinkedList, or
the whole linked list?
Thanks in advance,
Jeremy
attempting to apply what I have learned using Python instead. One
thing that is puzzling me is how to use an iterator.
I am writing a module containing everything I'd need for canonical
linked lists. One particularly useful feature would be to use a for
loop over the whole structure. For this I have learned the benefits of
iterators. I have read a few book entries on Python iterators, as well
as an online article by David Mertz, I believe, and PEP 234, and I may
be lacking some insight but I am still confused about one thing. How
does the iteration know where to begin?
AFAIU, in my LinkedList class, I can either have the LinkedList be its
own iterator by making its __iter__() method return self and defining
a next() method, or I can have a separate iterator called from
LinkedList's __iter__(). My view is that it would be best to have the
LinkedList be its own iterator - is that the case? Or is an external
iterator preferable in this case?
My problem with implementing the former comes with this: in LinkedList
I would have:
....
def __init__(self):
return self
....
def next(self):
if self.__current. next == None:
raise StopIteration
self.__current = self.__current. next
return self.__current. next
....
Now, is this good in the eyes of more experienced programmers? Also,
do I really want to dedicate an instance variable to keep track of
where to begin iteration (if __current is used for other purposes,
iteration could conceivably begin anywhere right?)? Does this suggest
that I should have a separate LinkedListItera tor class? And if I do
have that separate class, do I make the LinkedList.__it er__() pass on
to LinkedListItera tor's constructor the head node of LinkedList, or
the whole linked list?
Thanks in advance,
Jeremy
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