In Python, how do I determine if an object is iterable?

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In Python, you can determine if an object is iterable by attempting to iterate over it and catching a TypeError if it's not iterable. However, a more Pythonic way is to use the iter() and next() functions with a try-except block. Here's an example:

python
# Define a function to check if an object is iterable
def is_iterable(obj):
    try:
        # Attempt to create an iterator from the object
        iter_obj = iter(obj)
        # If successful, it's iterable
        return True
    except TypeError:
        # If a TypeError is raised, it's not iterable
        return False

# Test cases
string_iterable = "Hello, World!"  # String is iterable
list_iterable = [1, 2, 3]          # List is iterable
integer_non_iterable = 42          # Integer is not iterable

# Check if objects are iterable
print(f"Is string_iterable iterable? {is_iterable(string_iterable)}")
print(f"Is list_iterable iterable? {is_iterable(list_iterable)}")
print(f"Is integer_non_iterable iterable? {is_iterable(integer_non_iterable)}")

In this example:

  1. We define a function is_iterable(obj) that takes an object obj as an argument.

  2. Inside the function, we use a try-except block. We attempt to create an iterator (iter_obj) from the object using the iter() function. If the object is iterable, this operation will succeed without raising a TypeError.

  3. If a TypeError is raised, we catch it and return False, indicating that the object is not iterable. Otherwise, we return True.

  4. We test the function with different objects, including a string, a list, and an integer, to check if they are iterable or not.

When you run this code, it will correctly identify which objects are iterable and which are not. It's a safe and reliable way to determine if an object can be iterated over in Python.

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