## 4.2   Implicit Sequences

A sequence can be represented without each element being stored explicitly in the memory of the computer. That is, we can construct an object that provides access to all of the elements of some sequential dataset without computing the value of each element in advance. Instead, we compute elements on demand.

An example of this idea arises in the range container type introduced in Chapter 2. A range represents a consecutive, bounded sequence of integers. However, it is not the case that each element of that sequence is represented explicitly in memory. Instead, when an element is requested from a range, it is computed. Hence, we can represent very large ranges of integers without using large blocks of memory. Only the end points of the range are stored as part of the range object.

>>> r = range(10000, 1000000000)
>>> r[45006230]
45016230


In this example, not all 999,990,000 integers in this range are stored when the range instance is constructed. Instead, the range object adds the first element 10,000 to the index 45,006,230 to produce the element 45,016,230. Computing values on demand, rather than retrieving them from an existing representation, is an example of lazy computation. In computer science, lazy computation describes any program that delays the computation of a value until that value is needed.

### 4.2.1   Iterators

Note: This content on iterators and generators now also appears in Chapter 2.

Python and many other programming languages provide a unified way to process elements of a container value sequentially, called an iterator. An iterator is an object that provides sequential access to values, one by one.

The iterator abstraction has two components: a mechanism for retrieving the next element in the sequence being processed and a mechanism for signaling that the end of the sequence has been reached and no further elements remain. For any container, such as a list or range, an iterator can be obtained by calling the built-in iter function. The contents of the iterator can be accessed by calling the built-in next function.

>>> primes = [2, 3, 5, 7]
>>> type(primes)
<class 'list'>
>>> iterator = iter(primes)
>>> type(iterator)
<class 'list_iterator'>
>>> next(iterator)
2
>>> next(iterator)
3
>>> next(iterator)
5


Python signals that there are no more values available by raising a StopIteration exception when next is called. This exception can be handled using a try statement.

>>> next(iterator)
7
>>> next(iterator)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
StopIteration
>>> try:
next(iterator)
except StopIteration:
print('No more values')
No more values


An iterator maintains local state to represent its position in a sequence. Each time next is called, that position advances. Two separate iterators can track two different positions in the same sequence. However, two names for the same iterator will share a position because they share the same value.

>>> r = range(3, 13)
>>> s = iter(r)  # 1st iterator over r
>>> next(s)
3
>>> next(s)
4
>>> t = iter(r)  # 2nd iterator over r
>>> next(t)
3
>>> next(t)
4
>>> u = t        # Alternate name for the 2nd iterator
>>> next(u)
5
>>> next(u)
6


Advancing the second iterator does not affect the first. Since the last value returned from the first iterator was 4, it is positioned to return 5 next. On the other hand, the second iterator is positioned to return 7 next.

>>> next(s)
5
>>> next(t)
7


Calling iter on an iterator will return that iterator, not a copy. This behavior is included in Python so that a programmer can call iter on a value to get an iterator without having to worry about whether it is an iterator or a container.

>>> v = iter(t)  # Another alterante name for the 2nd iterator
>>> next(v)
8
>>> next(u)
9
>>> next(t)
10


The usefulness of iterators is derived from the fact that the underlying series of data for an iterator may not be represented explicitly in memory. An iterator provides a mechanism for considering each of a series of values in turn, but all of those elements do not need to be stored simultaneously. Instead, when the next element is requested from an iterator, that element may be computed on demand instead of being retrieved from an existing memory source.

Ranges are able to compute the elements of a sequence lazily because the sequence represented is uniform, and any element is easy to compute from the starting and ending bounds of the range. Iterators allow for lazy generation of a much broader class of underlying sequential datasets because they do not need to provide access to arbitrary elements of the underlying series. Instead, iterators are only required to compute the next element of the series, in order, each time another element is requested. While not as flexible as random access (accessing arbitrary elements of a sequence in any order), sequential access to sequential data is often sufficient for data processing applications.

### 4.2.2   Iterables

Any value that can produce iterators is called an iterable value. In Python, an iterable value is anything that can be passed to the built-in iter function. Iterables include sequence values such as strings and tuples, as well as other containers such as sets and dictionaries. Iterators are also iterables because they can be passed to the iter function.

Even unordered collections such as dictionaries must define an ordering over their contents when they produce iterators. Dictionaries and sets are unordered because the programmer has no control over the order of iteration, but Python does guarantee certain properties about their order in its specification.

>>> d = {'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3}
>>> d
{'one': 1, 'three': 3, 'two': 2}
>>> k = iter(d)
>>> next(k)
'one'
>>> next(k)
'three'
>>> v = iter(d.values())
>>> next(v)
1
>>> next(v)
3


If a dictionary changes in structure because a key is added or removed, then all iterators become invalid, and future iterators may exhibit arbitrary changes to the order of their contents. On the other hand, changing the value of an existing key does not invalidate iterators or change the order of their contents.

>>> d.pop('two')
2
>>> next(k)

RuntimeError: dictionary changed size during iteration
Traceback (most recent call last):


### 4.2.3   Built-in Iterators

Several built-in functions take as arguments iterable values and return iterators. These functions are used extensively for lazy sequence processing.

The map function is lazy: calling it does not perform the computation required to compute elements of its result. Instead, an iterator object is created that can return results if queried using next. We can observe this fact in the following example, in which the call to print is delayed until the corresponding element is requested from the doubled iterator.

>>> def double_and_print(x):
print('***', x, '=>', 2*x, '***')
return 2*x
>>> s = range(3, 7)
>>> doubled = map(double_and_print, s)  # double_and_print not yet called
>>> next(doubled)                       # double_and_print called once
*** 3 => 6 ***
6
>>> next(doubled)                       # double_and_print called again
*** 4 => 8 ***
8
>>> list(doubled)                       # double_and_print called twice more
*** 5 => 10 ***
*** 6 => 12 ***
[10, 12]


The filter function returns an iterator over a subset of the values in another iterable. The zip function returns an iterator over tuples of values that combine one value from each of multiple iterables.

### 4.2.4   For Statements

The for statement in Python operates on iterators. Objects are iterable (an interface) if they have an __iter__ method that returns an iterator. Iterable objects can be the value of the <expression> in the header of a for statement:

for <name> in <expression>:
<suite>


To execute a for statement, Python evaluates the header <expression>, which must yield an iterable value. Then, the iter function is applied to that value. Until a StopIteration exception is raised, Python repeatedly calls next on that iterator and binds the result to the <name> in the for statement. Then, it executes the <suite>.

>>> counts = [1, 2, 3]
>>> for item in counts:
print(item)
1
2
3


In the above example, the for statement implicitly calls iter(counts), which returns an iterator over its contents. The for statement then calls next on that iterator repeatedly, and assigns the returned value to item each time. This process continues until the iterator raises a StopIteration exception, at which point execution of the for statement concludes.

With our knowledge of iterators, we can implement the execution rule of a for statement in terms of while, assignment, and try statements.

>>> items = iter(counts)
>>> try:
while True:
item = next(items)
print(item)
except StopIteration:
pass
1
2
3


Above, the iterator returned by calling iter on counts is bound to a name items so that it can be queried for each element in turn. The handling clause for the StopIteration exception does nothing, but handling the exception provides a control mechanism for exiting the while loop.

### 4.2.5   Generators

Generators allow us to define iterations over arbitrary sequences, even infinite sequences, by leveraging the features of the Python interpreter.

A generator is an iterator returned by a special class of function called a generator function. Generator functions are distinguished from regular functions in that rather than containing return statements in their body, they use yield statements to return elements of a series.

Generators do not use attributes of an object to track their progress through a series. Instead, they control the execution of the generator function, which runs until the next yield statement is executed each time next is called on the generator. For example, the letters_generator function below returns a generator over the letters a, b, c, and then d.

>>> def letters_generator():
current = 'a'
while current <= 'd':
yield current
current = chr(ord(current)+1)

>>> for letter in letters_generator():
print(letter)
a
b
c
d


The yield statement indicates that we are defining a generator function, rather than a regular function. When called, a generator function doesn't return a particular yielded value, but instead a generator (which is a type of iterator) that itself can return the yielded values. Calling next on the generator continues execution of the generator function from wherever it left off previously until another yield statement is executed.

The first time next is called, the program executes statements from the body of the letters_generator function until it encounters the yield statement. Then, it pauses and returns the value of current. yield statements do not destroy the newly created environment; they preserve it for later. When next is called again, execution resumes where it left off. The values of current and of any other bound names in the scope of letters_generator are preserved across subsequent calls to next.

We can walk through the generator by manually calling next():

>>> letters = letters_generator()
>>> type(letters)
<class 'generator'>
>>> next(letters)
'a'
>>> next(letters)
'b'
>>> next(letters)
'c'
>>> next(letters)
'd'
>>> next(letters)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
StopIteration


The generator does not start executing any of the body statements of its generator function until the first time next is called. The generator raises a StopIteration exception whenever its generator function returns.

### 4.2.6   Python Streams

Streams offer another way to represent sequential data implicitly. A stream is a lazily computed linked list. Like the Link class from Chapter 2, a Stream instance responds to requests for its first element and the rest of the stream. Like an Link, the rest of a Stream is itself a Stream. Unlike an Link, the rest of a stream is only computed when it is looked up, rather than being stored in advance. That is, the rest of a stream is computed lazily.

To achieve this lazy evaluation, a stream stores a function that computes the rest of the stream. Whenever this function is called, its returned value is cached as part of the stream in an attribute called _rest, named with an underscore to indicate that it should not be accessed directly.

The accessible attribute rest is a property method that returns the rest of the stream, computing it if necessary. With this design, a stream stores how to compute the rest of the stream, rather than always storing the rest explicitly.

>>> class Stream:
class empty:
def __repr__(self):
return 'Stream.empty'
empty = empty()
def __init__(self, first, compute_rest=lambda: empty):
assert callable(compute_rest), 'compute_rest must be callable.'
self.first = first
self._compute_rest = compute_rest
@property
def rest(self):
"""Return the rest of the stream, computing it if necessary."""
if self._compute_rest is not None:
self._rest = self._compute_rest()
self._compute_rest = None
return self._rest
def __repr__(self):
return 'Stream({0}, <...>)'.format(repr(self.first))


A linked list is defined using a nested expression. For example, we can create an Link that represents the elements 1 then 5 as follows:

>>> r = Link(1, Link(2+3, Link(9)))


Likewise, we can create a Stream representing the same series. The Stream does not actually compute the second element 5 until the rest of the stream is requested. We achieve this effect by creating anonymous functions.

>>> s = Stream(1, lambda: Stream(2+3, lambda: Stream(9)))


Here, 1 is the first element of the stream, and the lambda expression that follows returns a function for computing the rest of the stream.

Accessing the elements of linked list r and stream s proceed similarly. However, while 5 is stored within r, it is computed on demand for s via addition, the first time that it is requested.

>>> r.first
1
>>> s.first
1
>>> r.rest.first
5
>>> s.rest.first
5
>>> r.rest
>>> s.rest
Stream(5, <...>)


While the rest of r is a two-element linked list, the rest of s includes a function to compute the rest; the fact that it will return the empty stream may not yet have been discovered.

When a Stream instance is constructed, the field self._rest is None, signifying that the rest of the Stream has not yet been computed. When the rest attribute is requested via a dot expression, the rest property method is invoked, which triggers computation with self._rest = self._compute_rest(). Because of the caching mechanism within a Stream, the compute_rest function is only ever called once, then discarded.

The essential properties of a compute_rest function are that it takes no arguments, and it returns a Stream or Stream.empty.

Lazy evaluation gives us the ability to represent infinite sequential datasets using streams. For example, we can represent increasing integers, starting at any first value.

>>> def integer_stream(first):
def compute_rest():
return integer_stream(first+1)
return Stream(first, compute_rest)

>>> positives = integer_stream(1)
>>> positives
Stream(1, <...>)
>>> positives.first
1


When integer_stream is called for the first time, it returns a stream whose first is the first integer in the sequence. However, integer_stream is actually recursive because this stream's compute_rest calls integer_stream again, with an incremented argument. We say that integer_stream is lazy because the recursive call to integer_stream is only made whenever the rest of an integer stream is requested.

>>> positives.first
1
>>> positives.rest.first
2
>>> positives.rest.rest
Stream(3, <...>)


The same higher-order functions that manipulate sequences -- map and filter -- also apply to streams, although their implementations must change to apply their argument functions lazily. The function map_stream maps a function over a stream, which produces a new stream. The locally defined compute_rest function ensures that the function will be mapped onto the rest of the stream whenever the rest is computed.

>>> def map_stream(fn, s):
if s is Stream.empty:
return s
def compute_rest():
return map_stream(fn, s.rest)
return Stream(fn(s.first), compute_rest)


A stream can be filtered by defining a compute_rest function that applies the filter function to the rest of the stream. If the filter function rejects the first element of the stream, the rest is computed immediately. Because filter_stream is recursive, the rest may be computed multiple times until a valid first element is found.

>>> def filter_stream(fn, s):
if s is Stream.empty:
return s
def compute_rest():
return filter_stream(fn, s.rest)
if fn(s.first):
return Stream(s.first, compute_rest)
else:
return compute_rest()


The map_stream and filter_stream functions exhibit a common pattern in stream processing: a locally defined compute_rest function recursively applies a processing function to the rest of the stream whenever the rest is computed.

To inspect the contents of a stream, we can coerce up to the first k elements to a Python list.

>>> def first_k_as_list(s, k):
first_k = []
while s is not Stream.empty and k > 0:
first_k.append(s.first)
s, k = s.rest, k-1
return first_k


These convenience functions allow us to verify our map_stream implementation with a simple example that squares the integers from 3 to 7.

>>> s = integer_stream(3)
>>> s
Stream(3, <...>)
>>> m = map_stream(lambda x: x*x, s)
>>> m
Stream(9, <...>)
>>> first_k_as_list(m, 5)
[9, 16, 25, 36, 49]


We can use our filter_stream function to define a stream of prime numbers using the sieve of Eratosthenes, which filters a stream of integers to remove all numbers that are multiples of its first element. By successively filtering with each prime, all composite numbers are removed from the stream.

>>> def primes(pos_stream):
def not_divible(x):
return x % pos_stream.first != 0
def compute_rest():
return primes(filter_stream(not_divible, pos_stream.rest))
return Stream(pos_stream.first, compute_rest)


By truncating the primes stream, we can enumerate any prefix of the prime numbers.

>>> prime_numbers = primes(integer_stream(2))
>>> first_k_as_list(prime_numbers, 7)
[2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17]


Streams contrast with iterators in that they can be passed to pure functions multiple times and yield the same result each time. The primes stream is not "used up" by converting it to a list. That is, the first element of prime_numbers is still 2 after converting the prefix of the stream to a list.

>>> prime_numbers.first
2


Just as linked lists provide a simple implementation of the sequence abstraction, streams provide a simple, functional, recursive data structure that implements lazy evaluation through the use of higher-order functions.

Continue: 4.3 Declarative Programming