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Realising an Iterator

Explore how to realize iterators in Python by converting them into concrete sequences like lists, tuples, or sets. Understand why realizing iterators is important for accessing elements multiple times, finding lengths, or reordering. Learn practical methods using constructors and the string join function to manage iterator data effectively.

It is sometimes useful to convert an iterator into a concrete sequence such as a list. This is sometimes called “realizing” the iterator.

Reasons for realizing an iterator

There are several reasons you might want to realize an iterator:

  • To find its length
  • To access the elements more than once (an iterator can only be read from once, afterwards it is spent)
  • To access the elements in a different order
  • To print it

The process of realizing an iterator involves evaluating every term in the iterator and making those terms available as a ...