Gist

Introduction

Iterator is one of the most common design modes in daily development. Let's explore the iterator continent in the javacript world, here we go!

Gist Iterator Mode

It's the basic iterator mode concept:

And it's like this in javascript world:

Grammar rules

Attention

Assume that "iterable" is an adjective, and "iterableFn" is a iterable.
It's a little confusing when lots of "iterable" appear at the same time.

Relation between iterable and iterator

Iterator can be created by iterableFn(an iterable), iterableFn belongs to iterable sources.

Iterables

Iterable sources

• Array
• String
• Map
• Set
• Dom Elements
• Arguments

Get iterableFn(used to generate iterator)

IterableFn can be derived from iterable source by its property: Symbol.iterator, for example: const iterableFn = [][Symbol.iterator]

Symbol.iterator
A method that returns the default Iterator for an object. Called by the semantics of the for-of statement.

/** Test in chrome 55  **/
// Array
console.log( [][Symbol.iterator] )    // function values() { [native code] }

// String
console.log( ''[Symbol.iterator] )    // function [Symbol.iterator]() { [native code] }

// Map
console.log( new Map([[]])[Symbol.iterator] )    // function entries() { [native code] }

// Set
console.log( new Set([])[Symbol.iterator] )    // function values() { [native code] }

// Dom elements
console.log( document.getElementsByTagName('body')[Symbol.iterator] )    // function values() { [native code] }

// arguments
function test() {
	console.log( arguments[Symbol.iterator] )
}
test(1, 2, 3)    // // function values() { [native code] }

Iterable sources' consumers

Follow consumers' implementations mainly depend on iterables.Howerver, the examples are irrelevant to topic.

• for of

for(const i in [1, 2]) {
    cosnole.log(i)
}     
    // 1
    // 2

• ...(The spread opeartor)

console.log( [..."ab"] )     // ["a", "b"]

• Array.from

console.log( Array.from("ab") )    // ["a", "b"]

Iterators

Iterator is common used, as to decouple algorithms.

Iterator = iterableFn()

After iterable's implementation, it returns an object called iterator, which uses "next" method to iterate.

/** Test in chrome 55  **/
// Array
console.log( [][Symbol.iterator]() )    // ArrayIterator {}

// String
console.log( ''[Symbol.iterator]() )    //  StringIterator {}

// Map
console.log( new Map([[]])[Symbol.iterator]() )    // MapIterator {[undefined, undefined]}

// Set
console.log( new Set([])[Symbol.iterator]() )    // SetIterator {}

// Dom elements
console.log( document.getElementsByTagName('body')[Symbol.iterator]() )    // ArrayIterator {}

// arguments
function test() {
	console.log( arguments[Symbol.iterator]() )
}
test(1, 2, 3)    // ArrayIterator {}

Add value and Implement method "next":

/** Test in chrome 55  **/
// Array
console.log( [1, 2][Symbol.iterator]().next() )    // {value: 1, done: false}

// String
console.log( 'ab'[Symbol.iterator]().next() )    //  {value: 'a', done: false}

// Map
console.log( new Map([[1, 'a']])[Symbol.iterator]().next() )    // {value: [1, 'a'], done: false}

// Set
console.log( new Set([1, 1, 2])[Symbol.iterator]().next() )    // {value1: , done: false}

// Dom elements
console.log( document.getElementsByTagName('body')[Symbol.iterator]().next() )    // {value: body(dom), done: false}

// arguments
function test() {
	console.log( arguments[Symbol.iterator]().next() )
}
test(1, 2, 3)    // {value: 1, done: false}

Iterator = generator()

Setting iterator mutually again and again seems inefficient, syntactic sugar is needed. Fortunately, ES6 provides the useful "generater"

function* iteratorMaker() {
    yield 1
    yield 2
}

const iterator =  iteratorMaker()

console.log( iterator )    // iteratorMaker {[[GeneratorStatus]]: "suspended", [[GeneratorReceiver]]: Window, [[GeneratorLocation]]: Object}

console.log( iterator.next() )    // {value: 1, done: false}

console.log( iterator.next() )    // {value: 2, done: false}

console.log( iterator.next() )    // {value: undefined, done: true}

Application

Iterator can be applied in wide situations, there's a sample to generate increasing id numbers.

function* idIteratorMaker() {
    let id = 0
    while (true) {
    	yield id++
    }
}

function create(idIterator) {
	return idIterator.next().value
}

const idIterator = idIteratorMaker()

const a = create(idIterator)
const b = create(idIterator)
const c = create(idIterator)

console.log(a)     // 0
console.log(b)     // 1
console.log(c)     // 2

Conclusion

Obviously, iterator makes codes more readable and matainable.

Reference

1. http://exploringjs.com/es6/ch_iteration.html#sec_iterating-language-constructs
2. https://tc39.github.io/ecma262/#table-1