Iterators
Iterators are a programming concept that provides a way to access elements of a collection (like arrays, lists, or sets) sequentially without exposing the underlying structure. They implement an interface with methods such as 'next()' to retrieve the next element and 'hasNext()' to check if more elements exist, enabling efficient traversal and manipulation of data. This abstraction is fundamental in many programming languages for handling loops, streams, and data processing.
Developers should learn iterators to write cleaner, more efficient code when working with collections, as they simplify traversal logic and reduce errors like off-by-one mistakes. They are essential in scenarios involving large datasets, lazy evaluation (e.g., in Python generators or Java streams), and when implementing custom data structures that need to be iterable. Mastery of iterators is crucial for functional programming, data analysis, and building scalable applications that process sequences of data.