{"id":78278,"date":"2020-04-13T15:21:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T09:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techvidvan.com\/tutorials\/?p=78278"},"modified":"2020-04-13T15:21:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T09:51:19","slug":"python-iterables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techvidvan.com\/tutorials\/python-iterables\/","title":{"rendered":"Python Iterables – Looping over Iterables in Python"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ll find iterables<\/strong> in almost every programming language<\/strong> you come across. These are important data types that you\u2019ll probably<\/strong> use in 99%<\/strong> of the programs<\/strong> you\u2019ll write<\/strong>. So the aim of this article is to get you acquainted<\/strong> with Python\u00a0 iterables<\/strong> and how you can work with them.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll also introduce you to the built-in functions<\/strong> that operate<\/strong> on iterables<\/strong> to make your computational tasks<\/strong> easier. And stick along till the end of this article to learn some additional tricks<\/strong> on working with iterables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What are Python Iterables?<\/h3>\n

Iterables<\/strong>, as the name suggests, are objects<\/strong> which can be \u201citerated over\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

An iterable is simply a Python object<\/strong> which consists of a collection<\/strong> of data members<\/strong>. We can access the data members<\/strong> of an iterable<\/strong> one at a time. An iterable can be \u201citerated over\u201d<\/strong> with a loop<\/strong>, like a for loop<\/strong> in Python.<\/p>\n

Common examples of iterables<\/strong> include sequences<\/strong> like lists<\/strong>, tuples<\/strong> and strings<\/strong>. Non-sequential<\/strong> collections<\/strong> of data, like dictionaries<\/strong> and sets<\/strong>, are also examples of iterables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the next section, we\u2019ll learn to use for loop<\/strong> to iterate over each of these iterables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Looping over Iterables in Python<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s worth repeating ourselves: We can loop<\/strong> over iterables<\/strong> using a for loop<\/strong> in Python<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unlike other languages, Python\u2019s for loop doesn\u2019t require<\/strong> us to specify any start<\/strong> or stop<\/strong> indices<\/strong> to iterate<\/strong> over an iterable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We can simply use the syntax below:<\/p>\n

for item in iterable:<\/strong>
\n#do this<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. for loop on lists:<\/h3>\n
>>> odd = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]\n>>> for item in odd:\nprint(item)<\/pre>\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
1
\n3
\n5
\n7
\n9<\/div>\n
2. for loop on tuples:<\/h3>\n
>>> odd = (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)\n>>> for item in odd:\nprint(item)<\/pre>\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
1
\n3
\n5
\n7
\n9<\/div>\n
3. for loop on strings:<\/h3>\n
>>> name = \"Techvidvan\"\n>>> for char in name:\nprint(char)<\/pre>\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
T
\ne
\nc
\nh
\nv
\ni
\nd
\nv
\na
\nn<\/div>\n
4. for loop on dictionaries:<\/h3>\n
>>> superhero = { 'Steve Rogers' : 'Captain America',\n'Tony Stark' : 'Iron Man',\n'Peter Parker' : 'Spiderman',\n'Bruce Banner' : 'Hulk'}\n>>> for name in superhero:\nprint(name + \"'s superhero name is: \" + superhero[name])<\/pre>\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Steve Rogers’s superhero name is: Captain America
\nTony Stark’s superhero name is: Iron Man
\nPeter Parker’s superhero name is: Spiderman
\nBruce Banner’s superhero name is: Hulk
\n>>><\/div>\n
5. for loop on sets:<\/h3>\n
>>> s = {1, 2, 4, 6}\n>>> for item in s:\nprint(item)<\/pre>\n
Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
1
\n2
\n4
\n6
\n>>><\/div>\n
Python Built-in functions that work on iterables<\/h3>\n
Let\u2019s now look at some commonly<\/strong> used Python built-in <\/strong>functions that work on iterables<\/strong> in Python<\/strong>. These functions<\/strong> prove useful while performing computational tasks<\/strong> on data elements<\/strong> of iterables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
All these functions take an iterable<\/strong> as an argument<\/strong> and perform some operation<\/strong> on the elements<\/strong> of that iterable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
Function:<\/strong><\/p>\n
    \n
  • sum()<\/strong>
    \nReturns sum<\/strong> of all the elements<\/strong> of an iterable<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • sorted()<\/strong>
    \nReturns a list<\/strong> of elements<\/strong> of an iterable<\/strong> sorted in ascending<\/strong> order by default. You can sort in descending<\/strong> order by passing another argument \u201creverse = True\u201d<\/strong> to the sorted()<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • max()<\/strong>
    \nReturns the element with the largest<\/strong> value in an iterable<\/li>\n
  • min()<\/strong>
    \nReturns the element with the smallest<\/strong> value in an iterable<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Working with Iterables – Python Tricks<\/h3>\n
    While working with iterables<\/strong> in Python<\/strong>, you\u2019ll find these two tricks<\/strong> the most useful. These tricks will make your code<\/strong> more \u201cPythonic\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    Iterable Unpacking<\/h3>\n
    Iterable unpacking is a powerful feature while assigning values to multiple variables at the same time.<\/p>\n
    Let\u2019s look at an example to get a better understanding.<\/p>\n
    >>> tup = (1, 2, 3)\n>>> x, y, z = tup\n>>> print(x, y, z)<\/pre>\n
    Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
    1 2 3
    \n>>><\/div>\n
    Here x<\/strong>, y<\/strong> and z<\/strong> are the unpacking variables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    The interpreter unpacks<\/strong> the tuple tup<\/strong> and assigns tup[0]<\/strong>, tup[1]<\/strong>, tup[2]<\/strong> to x<\/strong>, y<\/strong> and z<\/strong> respectively. Unpacking<\/strong> is also useful while iterating<\/strong> over<\/strong> an iterable<\/strong> of iterables<\/strong>.v<\/p>\n
    >>> student = [(10, \"Archie\"), (11, \"Betty\"), (13,\"Veronica\")]\n>>> for roll, name in student:\n     print(name, \"has the roll no.:\", roll)<\/pre>\n
    Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
    Archie has the roll no.: 10
    \nBetty has the roll no.: 11
    \nVeronica has the roll no.: 13
    \n>>><\/div>\n
    Here, name<\/strong> and roll<\/strong> are unpacking variables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    Enumerating iterables<\/h3>\n
    Enumerating<\/strong> is useful when we need to keep a track<\/strong> of the iteration-count<\/strong> while looping over<\/strong> an iterable<\/strong>. We enumerate iterables<\/strong> using the built-in<\/strong> enumerate()<\/strong> function.<\/p>\n
    >>> for i in enumerate(\"Techvidvan\"):\n     print(i)<\/pre>\n
    Output:<\/strong><\/p>\n
    (0, ‘T’)
    \n(1, ‘e’)
    \n(2, ‘c’)
    \n(3, ‘h’)
    \n(4, ‘v’)
    \n(5, ‘i’)
    \n(6, ‘d’)
    \n(7, ‘v’)
    \n(8, ‘a’)
    \n(9, ‘n’)
    \n>>><\/div>\n
    The enumerate()<\/strong> function<\/strong> returns a new iterable<\/strong> that contains tuples<\/strong> of the iteration-count<\/strong> and the corresponding item<\/strong> from the original iterable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    Wrapping Up!<\/h3>\n
    In this article, we learned what iterables<\/strong> are and how<\/strong> can we use<\/strong> them to structure<\/strong> and loop<\/strong> over our data<\/strong> in Python<\/strong>. Two major takeaways from this article are:<\/p>\n
      \n
    • You can loop<\/strong> over iterables<\/strong> using for loop<\/strong> in Python.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Iterables may<\/strong> or may not<\/strong> have indices<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      You\u2019ll find iterables in almost every programming language you come across. These are important data types that you\u2019ll probably use in 99% of the programs you\u2019ll write. So the aim of this article is...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1053],"tags":[2403,2404,2405,2406,2407],"class_list":["post-78278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-python","tag-enumerating-iterables","tag-iterable-unpacking","tag-looping-over-iterables","tag-python-iterables","tag-working-with-iterables"],"yoast_head":"\nPython Iterables - Looping over Iterables in Python - TechVidvan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Python Iterables - What is iterable in python with examples,looping over iterables in python, Iterables on built in functions, how to work with iterables.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/techvidvan.com\/tutorials\/python-iterables\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Python Iterables - 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