Iterators and generators

In JavaScript an iterator is an object which defines a sequence and potentially a return value upon its termination.

Specifically, an iterator is any object which implements the Iterator protocol by having a next() method that returns an object with two properties:

value

The next value in the iteration sequence.

done

This is true if the last value in the sequence has already been consumed. If value is present alongside done, it is the iterator's return value.

Once created, an iterator object can be iterated explicitly by repeatedly calling next(). Iterating over an iterator is said to consume the iterator, because it is generally only possible to do once. After a terminating value has been yielded additional calls to next() should continue to return {done: true}.

The most common iterator in JavaScript is the Array iterator, which returns each value in the associated array in sequence.

While it is easy to imagine that all iterators could be expressed as arrays, this is not true. Arrays must be allocated in their entirety, but iterators are consumed only as necessary. Because of this, iterators can express sequences of unlimited size, such as the range of integers between 0 and Infinity.

Here is an example which can do just that. It allows creation of a simple range iterator which defines a sequence of integers from start (inclusive) to end (exclusive) spaced step apart. Its final return value is the size of the sequence it created, tracked by the variable iterationCount.

function makeRangeIterator(start = 0, end = Infinity, step = 1) {
  let nextIndex = start;
  let iterationCount = 0;

  const rangeIterator = {
    next() {
      let result;
      if (nextIndex < end) {
        result = { value: nextIndex, done: false };
        nextIndex += step;
        iterationCount++;
        return result;
      }
      return { value: iterationCount, done: true };
    },
  };
  return rangeIterator;
}

Using the iterator then looks like this:

const iter = makeRangeIterator(1, 10, 2);

let result = iter.next();
while (!result.done) {
  console.log(result.value); // 1 3 5 7 9
  result = iter.next();
}

console.log("Iterated over sequence of size:", result.value); // [5 numbers returned, that took interval in between: 0 to 10]

While custom iterators are a useful tool, their creation requires careful programming due to the need to explicitly maintain their internal state. Generator functions provide a powerful alternative: they allow you to define an iterative algorithm by writing a single function whose execution is not continuous. Generator functions are written using the function* syntax.

When called, generator functions do not initially execute their code. Instead, they return a special type of iterator, called a Generator. When a value is consumed by calling the generator's next method, the Generator function executes until it encounters the yield keyword.

The function can be called as many times as desired, and returns a new Generator each time. Each Generator may only be iterated once.

We can now adapt the example from above. The behavior of this code is identical, but the implementation is much easier to write and read.

function* makeRangeIterator(start = 0, end = Infinity, step = 1) {
  let iterationCount = 0;
  for (let i = start; i < end; i += step) {
    iterationCount++;
    yield i;
  }
  return iterationCount;
}

An object is iterable if it defines its iteration behavior, such as what values are looped over in a for...of construct. Some built-in types, such as Array or Map, have a default iteration behavior, while other types (such as Object) do not.

In order to be iterable, an object must implement the [Symbol.iterator]() method. This means that the object (or one of the objects up its prototype chain) must have a property with a Symbol.iterator key.

It may be possible to iterate over an iterable more than once, or only once. It is up to the programmer to know which is the case.

Iterables which can iterate only once (such as Generators) customarily return this from their [Symbol.iterator]() method, whereas iterables which can be iterated many times must return a new iterator on each invocation of [Symbol.iterator]().

function* makeIterator() {
  yield 1;
  yield 2;
}

const iter = makeIterator();

for (const itItem of iter) {
  console.log(itItem);
}

console.log(iter[Symbol.iterator]() === iter); // true

// This example show us generator(iterator) is iterable object,
// which has the [Symbol.iterator]() method return the `iter` (itself),
// and consequently, the it object can iterate only _once_.

// If we change the [Symbol.iterator]() method of `iter` to a function/generator
// which returns a new iterator/generator object, `iter`
// can iterate many times

iter[Symbol.iterator] = function* () {
  yield 2;
  yield 1;
};

You can make your own iterables like this:

const myIterable = {
  *[Symbol.iterator]() {
    yield 1;
    yield 2;
    yield 3;
  },
};

User-defined iterables can be used in for...of loops or the spread syntax as usual.

for (const value of myIterable) {
  console.log(value);
}
// 1
// 2
// 3

[...myIterable]; // [1, 2, 3]

String, Array, TypedArray, Map and Set are all built-in iterables, because their prototype objects all have a Symbol.iterator method.

Some statements and expressions expect iterables. For example: the for...of loops, spread syntax, yield*, and destructuring syntax.

for (const value of ["a", "b", "c"]) {
  console.log(value);
}
// "a"
// "b"
// "c"

[..."abc"];
// ["a", "b", "c"]

function* gen() {
  yield* ["a", "b", "c"];
}

gen().next();
// { value: "a", done: false }

[a, b, c] = new Set(["a", "b", "c"]);
a;
// "a"

Generators compute their yielded values on demand, which allows them to efficiently represent sequences that are expensive to compute (or even infinite sequences, as demonstrated above).

The next() method also accepts a value, which can be used to modify the internal state of the generator. A value passed to next() will be received by yield.

Here is the fibonacci generator using next(x) to restart the sequence:

function* fibonacci() {
  let current = 0;
  let next = 1;
  while (true) {
    const reset = yield current;
    [current, next] = [next, next + current];
    if (reset) {
      current = 0;
      next = 1;
    }
  }
}

const sequence = fibonacci();
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 0
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 1
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 1
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 2
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 3
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 5
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 8
console.log(sequence.next(true).value); // 0
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 1
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 1
console.log(sequence.next().value); // 2

You can force a generator to throw an exception by calling its throw() method and passing the exception value it should throw. This exception will be thrown from the current suspended context of the generator, as if the yield that is currently suspended were instead a throw value statement.

If the exception is not caught from within the generator, it will propagate up through the call to throw(), and subsequent calls to next() will result in the done property being true.

Generators have a return() method that returns the given value and finishes the generator itself.

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