Does enumerate() produce a generator object?

Question

As a complete Python newbie, it certainly looks that way. Running the following...

x = enumerate([\'fee\', \'fie\', \'foe\'])
x.next()
# Out[1]: (0, \'fee\')         


        

Answer 1

Is it in some sense "generator-like", but not an actual generator?

Yes, it is. You shouldn't really care if it is a duck, but only if it walks, talks, and smells like one. It just as well be a generator, shouldn't make a real difference.

It is typical to have generator-like types instead of actual generators, when you want to extend the functionality. E.g. range is also generator-like, but it also supports things like y in range(x) and len(range(x)) (xrange in python2.x).