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Programming II (CS300)

Chapter 9 (Part2): Iterators

MOUNA KACEM
[email protected]
Iterable Interface and Iterators 2

 Collection<T> Interface
 Iterators
 Iterable Interface
 For-each loop
Collection Interface 3

 Generic Interface Collection<T>

 The interface Collection<T> specifies methods for performing some basic
operations on any collection of objects

public interface Collection<E> implements Iterable<E> {

// general operations that can be applied to various types of collections
// To explore the different operations defined in the interface Collection of
Java.util, go to:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/docs/api/java.base/java/util/Collection.html
}
Traverse a Collection of Objects 4

 A collection of Objects of type T can be

 an array,
 an ArrayList,
 a linkedList,
 etc.

 Need to traverse a collection to print out every item in the collection

for instance
 Is there a generic way to do it?
Diverse ways to traverse a linear collection 0 1 2 3 4 5
{10, 20, 15, 30, 25, 5}
5
 Arrays – for instance int[] data = new int[]{10, 20, 15, 30, 25, 5};
0 1 2 3 4 5

data 10 20 15 30 25 5

 ArrayList – for instance ListADT<Integer> data = new ArrayList<>(); // add elements to the list
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 … data.length-1
instanceof data
ArrayList 10 20 15 30 25 5 null null … null
size: 6

 A chain of linked nodes given its head (Singly linked list) – LinkedNode<T> head
instanceof 0 1 2 3 4 5
LinkedList
10 20 15 30 25 5 X
head
tail
size: 6
Traverse a Collection of Objects 6

 How to traverse an array of Objects?

 use a for loop to iterate through all the array indices
 How to traverse a singly linked list of Objects?
 use a while loop in which you advance a pointer along the list

Variety of traversal mechanisms!

How to come up with a single generic

method to traverse a collection that works
for all kinds of collections that are stored in
wildly different forms?
Diverse ways to traverse a linear collection
 Arrays – 7
int[] data = new int[]{10, 20, 15, 30, 25, 5};

 ArrayList – data is instanceof ArrayList or ListADT

 A chain of linked nodes given its head (Singly linked list)

Diverse ways to traverse a linear collection
 Arrays – 8
int[] data = new int[]{10, 20, 15, 30, 25, 5};

 ArrayList – data is instanceof ArrayList or ListADT

 A chain of linked nodes given its head (Singly linked list)

Generic Way to Traverse a 9

Collection of Objects

The problem is solved by using iterators! (design pattern)

 Iterator
 an object that can be used to traverse a collection
 Iterators are defined by a parameterized interface named Iterator<T>
@see https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/docs/api/java.base/java/util/Iterator.html
 Different types of collections have iterators that are implemented in
different ways, but all iterators are used in the same way
 An iterator provides a good way to iterate over a generic set type
Generic Way to Traverse a Collection of Objects 10

// create a new iterator to traverse a collection storing elements of type T

Iterator <T> itr = new SomeIterator<T>();

// Use the iterator to traverse the collection

while ( itr.hasNext() ){ // while there are more elements in the iteration
// get the next element and use it (print it)
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}
Generic Way to Traverse a Collection of Objects 11
Iterator <Integer> itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();

// Use the iterator to traverse the collection

while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}

0 1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40 50

itr.next()
10
Generic Way to Traverse a Collection of Objects 12
Iterator <Integer> itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();

// Use the iterator to traverse the collection

while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}

0 1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40 50

itr.next() itr.next()
10 20
Generic Way to Traverse a Collection of Objects 13
Iterator <Integer> itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();

// Use the iterator to traverse the collection

while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}

0 1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40 50

itr.next() itr.next() itr.next()

10 20 30
Generic Way to Traverse a Collection of Objects 14
Iterator <Integer> itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();

// Use the iterator to traverse the collection

while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}

0 1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40 50

itr.next() itr.next() itr.next() itr.next()

10 20 30 40
Generic Way to Traverse a Collection of Objects 15
Iterator <Integer> itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();

// Use the iterator to traverse the collection

while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}

0 1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40 50

itr.next() itr.next() itr.next() itr.next() itr.next()

10 20 30 40 50
Iterator <Integer> itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();
// Use the iterator to traverse the collection 16
while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}
// An iterator can be used only ONE
// Get a new instance of the iterator to traverse the collection a
// second time
itr = new SomeIterator<Integer>();
// Use the iterator to traverse the collection
while ( itr.hasNext() ){
System.out.print(itr.next() + " ";
}

0 1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40 50
Question
17
List Abstract Data Type 18

public interface ListADT<T> { T refers to Any Type

// List of Operations
public void add(T newObject); // add at the end of this list
public void add(int index, T newObject); // add at a given index of this list
public boolean contains(T findObject); // checks whether this list contains a match
with findObject
public boolean isEmpty(); // checks whether the list is empty
public int size(); // returns the number of elements stored in this list
public int indexOf(T findObject); // returns the index of findObject within this list,
and -1 if no match found
public T get(int index); // returns the element stored at position index
public T remove(int index); // removes and returns the element at index
} // end ListADT generic interface
Practice Example
19
 Implementation of an Iterator ListIterator to iterate through
an instance of a list given its reference of type ListADT
Practice Example
20
 Implementation of an Iterator ListIterator to iterate through an
instance of a list given its reference of type ListADT
1. Write a while loop to traverse a list instanceof ListADT
2. Determine which data fields do we need to iterate through the list given its
reference of type ListADT
3. Determine the implementation of hasNext() and next()

int index = 0;
while(index < list.size())
{
T next = list.get(index);
index++;
// use next
}
Question
Complete the missed line of code within the following ListIterator.hasNext() 21
method to implement appropriately its behavior.
Complete the missed line of code within the following ListIterator.next() 22
method to implement appropriately its behavior.

T next = list.get(index);
index++;
return next;
Iterable interface 23

 The Iterable interface is a generic interface of java.lang package.

public interface Iterable<T>
 Iterable interface has one method to override
Iterator<T> interator()
returns an iterator over a set of elements of type T

For more details, please visit

https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/docs/api/java.base/java/lang/Iterable.html
Question
24
Given the following class declaration, which of the following methods the
Bouquet class must override?

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.
For each loop 25

 An object instance of a class that implements the java.lang.Iterable<T>

interface can be target of the “for each” statement

 Syntax
for (<ElementType> <variable> : <collection>){
<loop body> // Does not have any effect on the value of <variable> reference
}
 A for-each loop can be used to traverse a collection IF AND ONLY IF the
collection implements the java.lang.Iterable interface
 The Iterable interface provides a clean and elegant way to code the
iteration functionality
 In java, we can use the for-each loop to traverse an array
For each loop 26

 The for each loop can be used to iterate over a collection if and only if
the collection implements the java.lang.Iterable interface
 The Iterable.iterator() method must be overridden
 The Iterable.iterator() method returns a new reference to an iterator
(Iterator<T>) which can be used to iterate through the collection

 The for each loop cannot be used to make change to the contents of a
collection.
 Use a while loop or a classic for loop instead if you need to change the
content of the list