What are itertools in Python?

Can you explain what itertools is in Python?

Sure! itertools is a module in Python that provides functions to create iterators for efficient looping.

What are some common functions provided by itertools?

Some common functions include count, cycle, repeat, chain, and combinations. They help in creating complex iterators.

Can you give me an example of how to use itertools.combinations?

Of course! You can use itertools.combinations to generate all possible combinations of a specified length from an iterable. For example:

import itertools
result = list(itertools.combinations(['A', 'B', 'C'], 2))
print(result)  # Output: [('A', 'B'), ('A', 'C'), ('B', 'C')]

Are there any performance benefits to using itertools?

Yes, itertools is designed for efficiency. It generates items on-the-fly and can handle large datasets without consuming much memory.