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Ambiguous phrasing in generators #1285

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Ambiguous phrasing in generators
colshrapnel Dec 31, 2021
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colshrapnel Dec 31, 2021
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20 changes: 17 additions & 3 deletions language/generators.xml
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Expand Up @@ -15,8 +15,11 @@
</para>

<para>
A generator allows you to write code that uses &foreach; to iterate over a
set of data without needing to build an array in memory, which may cause
A generator allows you to write a code that can disguise a regular loop
the way it looks as though it's an array iterated over using &foreach;.
In case your code expects an array, but each item is actually an iteration
result of some loop, then you can make it look as an array by creating
a generator, without needing to build an array in memory, which may cause
you to exceed a memory limit, or require a considerable amount of
processing time to generate. Instead, you can write a generator function,
which is the same as a normal
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -95,6 +98,18 @@ Single digit odd numbers from xrange(): 1 3 5 7 9
</screen>
</example>

<note>
<simpara>
It is important to understand that a generator is essentially a syntax sugar
that cannot really reduce the memory consumption. It's the undelying loop
that does the job, providing one item at a time. While a generator simply
allows to convert any other loop, such as <literal>while</literal>
or <literal>for</literal> into <literal>foreach</literal>,
making it possible to use the uniform interface to access either arrays,
streams or sequences generated on the fly.
</simpara>
</note>

<sect2 xml:id="language.generators.object">
<title><classname>Generator</classname> objects</title>
<para>
Expand All @@ -107,7 +122,6 @@ Single digit odd numbers from xrange(): 1 3 5 7 9
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 xml:id="language.generators.syntax">
<title>Generator syntax</title>

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