The Vanishing Pattern: from iterators to generators in Python

The Vanishing Patternfrom iterators to generators in Python Luciano Ramalho

[email protected]@ramalhoorg

mailto:[email protected]


@ramalhoorg

Demo: laziness in the Django Shell

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>>> from django.db import connection>>> q = connection.queries>>> q[]>>> from municipios.models import *>>> res = Municipio.objects.all()[:5]>>> q[]>>> for m in res: print m.uf, m.nome... GO Abadia de GoiásMG Abadia dos DouradosGO AbadiâniaMG AbaetéPA Abaetetuba>>> q[{'time': '0.000', 'sql': u'SELECT "municipios_municipio"."id", "municipios_municipio"."uf", "municipios_municipio"."nome", "municipios_municipio"."nome_ascii", "municipios_municipio"."meso_regiao_id", "municipios_municipio"."capital", "municipios_municipio"."latitude", "municipios_municipio"."longitude", "municipios_municipio"."geohash" FROM "municipios_municipio" ORDER BY "municipios_municipio"."nome_ascii" ASC LIMIT 5'}]


this expression makes a Django QuerySet



QuerySets are “lazy”: no database access so far



QuerySets are “lazy”: no database access so far

the query is made only when we iterate over the results

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QuerySet is a lazy iterable

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QuerySet is a lazy iterable

technical term

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Lazy

• Avoids unnecessary work, by postponing it as long as possible

• The opposite of eager

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In Computer Science, being “lazy” is often a good thing!

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Now, back to basics...

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Iteration: C and Python#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int i; for(i = 0; i < argc; i++) printf("%s\n", argv[i]); return 0;}

import sys

for arg in sys.argv: print arg

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Iteration: Java (classic)

class Arguments { public static void main(String[] args) { for (int i=0; i < args.length; i++) System.out.println(args[i]); }}

$ java Arguments alfa bravo charliealfabravocharlie

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Iteration: Java ≥1.5

$ java Arguments2 alfa bravo charliealfabravocharlie

• Enhanced for (a.k.a. foreach)

since2004

class Arguments2 { public static void main(String[] args) { for (String arg : args) System.out.println(arg); }}

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Iteration: Java ≥1.5• Enhanced for (a.k.a. foreach)

class Arguments2 { public static void main(String[] args) { for (String arg : args) System.out.println(arg); }}

since2004

import sys

for arg in sys.argv: print arg

since1991

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You can iterate over manyPython objects

• strings

• files

• XML: ElementTree nodes

• not limited to built-in types:

• Django QuerySet

• etc.

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So, what is an iterable?

• Informal, recursive definition:

• iterable: fit to be iterated

• just as: edible: fit to be eaten

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The for loop statement is not the only construct that

handles iterables...

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List comprehension

● Compreensão de lista ou abrangência de lista

● Exemplo: usar todos os elementos:

– L2 = [n*10 for n in L]

List comprehension• An expression that builds a list from any iterable

>>> s = 'abracadabra'>>> l = [ord(c) for c in s]>>> l[97, 98, 114, 97, 99, 97, 100, 97, 98, 114, 97]

input: any iterable object

output: a list (always)

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Set comprehension

• An expression that builds a set from any iterable

>>> s = 'abracadabra'>>> set(s){'b', 'r', 'a', 'd', 'c'}>>> {ord(c) for c in s}{97, 98, 99, 100, 114}

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Dict comprehensions

• An expression that builds a dict from any iterable

>>> s = 'abracadabra'>>> {c:ord(c) for c in s}{'a': 97, 'r': 114, 'b': 98, 'c': 99, 'd': 100}

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Syntactic support for iterables

• Tuple unpacking, parallel assignment

>>> a, b, c = 'XYZ'>>> a'X'>>> b'Y'>>> c'Z'

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>>> l = [(c, ord(c)) for c in 'XYZ']>>> l[('X', 88), ('Y', 89), ('Z', 90)]>>> for char, code in l:... print char, '->', code...X -> 88Y -> 89Z -> 90

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Syntactic support for iterables (2)

• Function calls: exploding arguments with *

>>> import math>>> def hypotenuse(a, b):... return math.sqrt(a*a + b*b)...>>> hypotenuse(3, 4)5.0>>> sides = (3, 4)>>> hypotenuse(sides)Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>TypeError: hypotenuse() takes exactly 2 arguments (1 given)>>> hypotenuse(*sides)5.0

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Built-in iterable types

• basestring

• str

• unicode

• dict

• file

• frozenset

• list

• set

• tuple

• xrange

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Built-in functions that take iterable arguments

• all

• any

• filter

• iter

• len

• map

• max

• min

• reduce

• sorted

• sum

• zip

unrelated to compression

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Classic iterables in Python

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Iterator is...

• a classic design pattern

Design PatternsGamma, Helm, Johnson & VlissidesAddison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-63361-2

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Head First Design Patterns PosterO'Reilly, ISBN 0-596-10214-3

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@ramalhoorg

Head First Design Patterns PosterO'Reilly, ISBN 0-596-10214-3

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“The Iterator Pattern provides a way to access the elements of an aggregate object sequentially without exposing the underlying representation.”

An iterable Train class>>> train = Train(4)>>> for car in train:... print(car)car #1car #2car #3car #4>>>

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class Train(object):

def __init__(self, cars): self.cars = cars

def __len__(self): return self.cars

def __iter__(self): return TrainIterator(self)

class TrainIterator(object):

def __init__(self, train): self.train = train self.current = 0

def __next__(self): # Python 3 if self.current < len(self.train): self.current += 1 return 'car #%s' % (self.current) else: raise StopIteration()

An iterable Train with iterator

iterable

iterator

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Iterable ABC

• collections.Iterable abstract base class

• A concrete subclass of Iterable must implement .__iter__

• .__iter__ returns an Iterator

• You don’t usually call .__iter__ directly

• when needed, call iter(x)

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Iterator ABC

• Iterator provides.nextor.__next__

• .__next__ returns the next item

• You don’t usually call .__next__ directly

• when needed, call next(x)

Python 3

Python 2

Python ≥ 2.6

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for car in train:

• calls iter(train) to obtain a TrainIterator

• makes repeated calls to next(aTrainIterator) until it raises StopIteration








Train withiterator

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>>> train = Train(3)>>> for car in train:... print(car)car #1car #2car #3

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@ramalhoorg34 Richard Bartz/Wikipedia

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Iterable duck-like creatures

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Design patterns in dynamic languages

• Dynamic languages: Lisp, Smalltalk, Python, Ruby, PHP, JavaScript...

• Many features not found in C++, where most of the original 23 Design Patterns were identified

• Java is more dynamic than C++, but much more static than Lisp, Python etc.

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Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides a.k .a. the Gang of Four (GoF)

Peter Norvig:“Design Patterns in Dynamic Languages”

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Dynamic types

• No need to declare types or interfaces

• It does not matter what an object claims do be, only what it is capable of doing

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Duck typing

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“In other words, don't check whether it is-a duck: check whether it quacks-like-a duck, walks-like-a duck, etc, etc, depending on exactly what subset of duck-like behaviour you need to play your language-games with.”

Alex Martellicomp.lang.python (2000)

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A Python iterable is...

• An object from which the iter function can produce an iterator

• The iter(x) call:

• invokes x.__iter__() to obtain an iterator

• but, if x has no __iter__:

• iter makes an iterator which tries to fetch items from x by doing x[0], x[1], x[2]...

sequence protocol

Iterable interface

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Train: a sequence of carstrain = Train(4)

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train[0] train[1] train[2] train[3]

Train: a sequence of cars>>> train = Train(4)>>> len(train)4>>> train[0]'car #1'>>> train[3]'car #4'>>> train[-1]'car #4'>>> train[4]Traceback (most recent call last): ...IndexError: no car at 4

>>> for car in train:... print(car)car #1car #2car #3car #4

Train: a sequence of carsclass Train(object):


def __getitem__(self, key): index = key if key >= 0 else self.cars + key if 0 <= index < len(self): # index 2 -> car #3 return 'car #%s' % (index + 1) else: raise IndexError('no car at %s' % key)

if __getitem__ exists, iteration “just works”

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The sequence protocol at work>>> t = Train(4)>>> len(t)4>>> t[0]'car #1'>>> t[3]'car #4'>>> t[-1]'car #4'>>> for car in t:... print(car)car #1car #2car #3car #4

__len__

__getitem__

__getitem__

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Protocol

• protocol: a synonym for interface used in dynamic languages like Smalltalk, Python, Ruby, Lisp...

• not declared, and not enforced by static checks

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Sequence protocol

__len__ and __getitem__ implement the immutable sequence protocol

import collections

class Train(collections.Sequence):




Sequence ABC• collections.Sequence abstract base class

abstract methods

Python ≥ 2.6

import collections






implement these 2

import collections






inherit these 5

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>>> train = Train(4)>>> 'car #2' in trainTrue>>> 'car #7' in trainFalse>>> for car in reversed(train):... print(car)car #4car #3car #2car #1>>> train.index('car #3')2

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@ramalhoorg51 U.S. NRC/Wikipedia

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Generators

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Iteration in C (example 2)

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int i; for(i = 0; i < argc; i++) printf("%d : %s\n", i, argv[i]); return 0;}

$ ./args2 alfa bravo charlie0 : ./args21 : alfa2 : bravo3 : charlie

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Iteration in Python (ex. 2)

import sys

for i in range(len(sys.argv)): print i, ':', sys.argv[i]

$ python args2.py alfa bravo charlie0 : args2.py1 : alfa2 : bravo3 : charlie 54

not Pythonic

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import sys

for i, arg in enumerate(sys.argv): print i, ':', arg

$ python args2.py alfa bravo charlie0 : args2.py1 : alfa2 : bravo3 : charlie 55

Pythonic!

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import sys

for i, arg in enumerate(sys.argv): print i, ':', arg


$ python args2.py alfa bravo charlie0 : args2.py1 : alfa2 : bravo3 : charlie

this returns a lazy iterable object

that object yields tuples (index, item)

on demand, at each iteration

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What enumerate does

>>> e = enumerate('Turing')>>> e<enumerate object at 0x...>>>>

enumerate builds an enumerate object

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What enumerate does

isso constroium gerador

and that is iterable

>>> e = enumerate('Turing')>>> e<enumerate object at 0x...>>>> for item in e:... print item...(0, 'T')(1, 'u')(2, 'r')(3, 'i')(4, 'n')(5, 'g')>>>

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enumerate builds an enumerate object

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What enumerate does

isso constroium gerador

the enumerate object produces an

(index, item) tuplefor each next(e) call

>>> e = enumerate('Turing')>>> e<enumerate object at 0x...>>>> next(e)(0, 'T')>>> next(e)(1, 'u')>>> next(e)(2, 'r')>>> next(e)(3, 'i')>>> next(e)(4, 'n')>>> next(e)(5, 'g')>>> next(e)Traceback (most recent...): ...StopIteration

• The enumerator object is an example of a generator

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Iterator x generator• By definition (in GoF) an iterator retrieves successive items

from an existing collection

• A generator implements the iterator interface (next) but produces items not necessarily in a collection

• a generator may iterate over a collection, but return the items decorated in some way, skip some items...

• it may also produce items independently of any existing data source (eg. Fibonacci sequence generator)

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Faraday disc(Wikipedia)

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Very simplegenerators

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Generatorfunction

• Any function that has the yield keyword in its body is a generator function

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>>> def gen_123():... yield 1... yield 2... yield 3...>>> for i in gen_123(): print(i)123>>>

the keyword gen was considered for defining generator functions,

but def prevailed

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• When invoked, a generator function returns a generator object

Generatorfunction

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>>> def gen_123():... yield 1... yield 2... yield 3...>>> for i in gen_123(): print(i)123>>> g = gen_123()>>> g <generator object gen_123 at ...>

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Generatorfunction

>>> def gen_123():... yield 1... yield 2... yield 3...>>> g = gen_123()>>> g <generator object gen_123 at ...>>>> next(g)1>>> next(g)2>>> next(g)3>>> next(g)Traceback (most recent call last):...StopIteration

• Generator objects implement the Iterator interface

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Generatorbehavior

• Note how the output of the generator function is interleaved with the output of the calling code

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>>> def gen_AB():... print('START')... yield 'A'... print('CONTINUE')... yield 'B'... print('END.')...>>> for c in gen_AB():... print('--->', c)...START---> ACONTINUE---> BEND.>>>

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Generatorbehavior

• The body is executed only when next is called, and it runs only up to the following yield

>>> def gen_AB():... print('START')... yield 'A'... print('CONTINUE')... yield 'B'... print('END.')...>>> g = gen_AB()>>> next(g)START'A'>>>

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Generatorbehavior

• When the body of the function returns, the generator object throws StopIteration

• The for statement catches that for you

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>>> def gen_AB():... print('START')... yield 'A'... print('CONTINUE')... yield 'B'... print('END.')...>>> g = gen_AB()>>> next(g)START'A'>>> next(g)CONTINUE'B'>>> next(g)END.Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>StopIteration

for car in train:

• calls iter(train) to obtain a generator

• makes repeated calls to next(generator) until the function returns, which raises StopIteration



def __iter__(self): for i in range(self.cars): # index 2 is car #3 yield 'car #%s' % (i+1)

Train with generator function

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1

2


2

Classic iterator x generator










def __iter__(self): for i in range(self.cars): yield 'car #%s' % (i+1)

2 classes, 12 lines of code

1 class,3 lines of code




The pattern just vanished




“When I see patterns in my programs, I consider it a sign of trouble. The shape of a program should reflect only the problem it needs to solve. Any other regularity in the code is a sign, to me at least, that I'm using abstractions that aren't powerful enough -- often that I'm generating by hand the expansions of some macro that I need to write.”

Paul GrahamRevenge of the nerds (2002)

Generator expression (genexp)

>>> g = (c for c in 'ABC')>>> g<generator object <genexpr> at 0x10045a410> >>> for l in g:... print(l)... ABC>>>

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• When evaluated, returns a generator object

>>> g = (n for n in [1, 2, 3])>>> g<generator object <genexpr> at 0x...>>>> next(g)1>>> next(g)2>>> next(g)3>>> next(g)Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>StopIteration

Generator expression (genexp)

for car in train:





def __iter__(self): for i in range(self.cars): # index 2 is car #3 yield 'car #%s' % (i+1)

Train with generator function

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1

2


2

for car in train:



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2

class Train(object): def __init__(self, cars): self.cars = cars def __iter__(self): return ('car #%s' % (i+1) for i in range(self.cars))

Train with generator expression




def __iter__(self): return ('car #%s' % (i+1) for i in range(self.cars))

Generator functionx genexpclass Train(object):



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Built-in functions that return iterables, iterators or generators

• dict

• enumerate

• frozenset

• list

• reversed

• set

• tuple

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• boundless generators

• count(), cycle(), repeat()

• generators which combine several iterables:

• chain(), tee(), izip(), imap(), product(), compress()...

• generators which select or group items:

• compress(), dropwhile(), groupby(), ifilter(), islice()...

• generators producing combinations of items:

• product(), permutations(), combinations()...

The itertools module Don’t reinvent the wheel, use itertools!

this was not reinvented: ported from Haskell

great for MapReduce

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Generators in Python 3

• Several functions and methods of the standard library that used to return lists, now return generators and other lazy iterables in Python 3

• dict.keys(), dict.items(), dict.values()...

• range(...)

• like xrange in Python 2.x (more than a generator)

• If you really need a list, just pass the generator to the list constructor. Eg.: list(range(10))

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A practical example using generator functions

• Generator functions to decouple reading and writing logic in a database conversion tool designed to handle large datasets

https://github.com/ramalho/isis2json

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https://github.com/ramalho/isis2json/blob/master/isis2json.py


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Main loop writes JSON file

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Another loop readsthe input records

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One implementation:same loop reads/writes

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But what if we need to read another format?

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Functions in the script

• iterMstRecords*

• iterIsoRecords*

• writeJsonArray

• main

* generator functions

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main:read commandline arguments

main: determineinput format

selected generator function is passed as an argument

input generator function is selected based on the input file extension

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writeJsonArray:write JSON records

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writeJsonArray:iterates over one of the input generator functions

selected generator function received as an argument...

and called to produce input generator

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iterIsoRecords:read recordsfrom ISO-2709format file

generator function!

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iterIsoRecords

yields one record, structured as a dict

creates a new dict in each iteration

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iterMstRecords:read recordsfrom ISIS.MST file

generator function!

iterIsoRecordsiterMstRecords

yields one record, structured as a dict

creates a new dict in each iteration

Generators at work

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We did not cover

• other generator methods:

• gen.close(): causes a GeneratorExit exception to be raised within the generator body, at the point where it is paused

• gen.throw(e): causes any exception e to be raised within the generator body, at the point it where is paused

Mostly useful for long-running processes.Often not needed in batch processing scripts.

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We did not cover

• generator delegation with yield from

• sending data into a generator function with the gen.send(x) method (instead of next(gen)), and using yield as an expression to get thedata sent

• using generator functions as coroutines

not useful in the context of iteration

Python ≥ 3.3

“Coroutines are not related to iteration”

David Beazley

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How to learn generators

• Forget about .send() and coroutines: that is a completely different subject. Look into that only after mastering and becoming really confortable using generators for iteration.

• Study and use the itertools module

• Don’t worry about .close() and .throw() initially. You can be productive with generators without using these methods.

• yield from is only available in Python 3.3, and only relevant if you need to use .close() and .throw()

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Q & A

Luciano [email protected]

@ramalhoorg

https://github.com/ramalho/isis2json





The Vanishing Pattern: from iterators to generators in Python

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