What are the differences between generators and iterators in Python?

What are the differences between generators and iterators in Python?

Generators are a type of iterator that allow you to iterate through a sequence of values without storing them in memory. They use the yield keyword to produce values one at a time.

Can you give me an example of a generator?

Sure! Here's a simple generator that yields the squares of numbers up to a given limit:

def square_generator(limit):
    for i in range(limit):
        yield i * i

How do iterators differ from this generator?

Iterators are objects that implement the iterator protocol, which consists of the __iter__() and __next__() methods. Unlike generators, iterators require more boilerplate code to create.

Which one is more memory efficient?

Generators are generally more memory efficient than iterators because they yield items one at a time and do not store the entire sequence in memory.