How Iterators Work in javascript

The term “iteration” is derived from the Latin itero, meaning “repeat” or “do again.” In the context of software, “iteration” means repetitively performing a procedure multiple times, in sequence, and usually with an expectation of termination

let sum = 0;
for(let i of [1,2,3]) { // Loop once for each of these values
    sum += i;
}
sum   // => 6

Iterators can also be used with the ... operator to expand or “spread” an iterable object into an array initializer or function invocation

let chars = [..."abcd"]; // chars == ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
let data = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
Math.max(...data)        // => 5

//Iterators can be used with destructuring assignment:

let purpleHaze = Uint8Array.of(255, 0, 255, 128);
let [r, g, b, a] = purpleHaze; // a == 128

When you iterate a Map object, the returned values are [key, value] pairs, which work well with destructuring assignment in a for/of loop

let m = new Map([["one", 1], ["two", 2]]);
for(let [k,v] of m) console.log(k, v); // Logs 'one 1' and 'two 2'
If you want to iterate just the keys or just the values rather than the pairs, you can use the keys() and values() methods:

[...m]            // => [["one", 1], ["two", 2]]: default iteration
[...m.entries()]  // => [["one", 1], ["two", 2]]: entries() method is the same
[...m.keys()]     // => ["one", "two"]: keys() method iterates just map keys
[...m.values()]   // => [1, 2]: values() method iterates just map values

How Iterators Work

The for/of loop and spread operator work seamlessly with iterable objects, but it is worth understanding what is actually happening to make the iteration work.

There are three separate types that you need to understand to understand iteration in JavaScript. First, there are the iterable objects: these are types like Array, Set, and Map that can be iterated. Second, there is the iterator object itself, which performs the iteration. And third, there is the iteration result object that holds the result of each step of the iteration.

An iterable object is any object with a special iterator method that returns an iterator object. An iterator is any object with a next() method that returns an iteration result object.

And an iteration result object is an object with properties named value and done. To iterate an iterable object, you first call its iterator method to get an iterator object. Then, you call the next() method of the iterator object repeatedly until the returned value has its done property set to true.

The tricky thing about this is that the iterator method of an iterable object does not have a conventional name but uses the Symbol Symbol.iterator as its name. So a simple for/of loop over an iterable object iterable could also be written the hard way, like this:

let iterable = [99];
let iterator = iterable[Symbol.iterator]();
for(let result = iterator.next(); !result.done; result = iterator.next()) {
    console.log(result.value)  // result.value == 99
}

The iterator object of the built-in iterable datatypes is itself iterable. (That is, it has a method named Symbol.iterator that just returns itself.) This is occasionally useful in code like the following when you want to iterate though a “partially used” iterator:

let list = [1,2,3,4,5];
let iter = list[Symbol.iterator]();
let head = iter.next().value;  // head == 1
let tail = [...iter];          // tail == [2,3,4,5]

Implementing Iterable Objects

In order to make a class iterable, you must implement a method whose name is the Symbol Symbol.iterator. That method must return an iterator object that has a next() method. And the next() method must return an iteration result object that has a value property and/or a boolean done property.

//An iterable numeric Range class

/*
 * A Range object represents a range of numbers {x: from <= x <= to}
 * Range defines a has() method for testing whether a given number is a member
 * of the range. Range is iterable and iterates all integers within the range.
 */
class Range {
    constructor (from, to) {
        this.from = from;
        this.to = to;
    }

    // Make a Range act like a Set of numbers
    has(x) { return typeof x === "number" && this.from <= x && x <= this.to; }

    // Return string representation of the range using set notation
    toString() { return `{ x | ${this.from} ≤ x ≤ ${this.to} }`; }

    // Make a Range iterable by returning an iterator object.
    // Note that the name of this method is a special symbol, not a string.
    [Symbol.iterator]() {
        // Each iterator instance must iterate the range independently of
        // others. So we need a state variable to track our location in the
        // iteration. We start at the first integer >= from.
        let next = Math.ceil(this.from);  // This is the next value we return
        let last = this.to;               // We won't return anything > this
        return {                          // This is the iterator object
            // This next() method is what makes this an iterator object.
            // It must return an iterator result object.
            next() {
                return (next <= last)   // If we haven't returned last value yet
                    ? { value: next++ } // return next value and increment it
                    : { done: true };   // otherwise indicate that we're done.
            },

            // As a convenience, we make the iterator itself iterable.
            [Symbol.iterator]() { return this; }
        };
    }
}

for(let x of new Range(1,10)) console.log(x); // Logs numbers 1 to 10
[...new Range(-2,2)]

In addition to making your classes iterable, it can be quite useful to define functions that return iterable values. Consider these iterable-based alternatives to the map() and filter() methods of JavaScript arrays

// Return an iterable object that iterates the result of applying f()
// to each value from the source iterable
function map(iterable, f) {
    let iterator = iterable[Symbol.iterator]();
    return {     // This object is both iterator and iterable
        [Symbol.iterator]() { return this; },
        next() {
            let v = iterator.next();
            if (v.done) {
                return v;
            } else {
                return { value: f(v.value) };
            }
        }
    };
}

// Map a range of integers to their squares and convert to an array
[...map(new Range(1,4), x => x*x)]  // => [1, 4, 9, 16]

// Return an iterable object that filters the specified iterable,
// iterating only those elements for which the predicate returns true
function filter(iterable, predicate) {
    let iterator = iterable[Symbol.iterator]();
    return { // This object is both iterator and iterable
        [Symbol.iterator]() { return this; },
        next() {
            for(;;) {
                let v = iterator.next();
                if (v.done || predicate(v.value)) {
                    return v;
                }
            }
        }
    };
}

// Filter a range so we're left with only even numbers
[...filter(new Range(1,10), x => x % 2 === 0)]  // => [2,4,6,8,10]