Get the next element while iterating through a list in Python

Iterating through a list in Python is a common task you may need to do in your code. If you are iterating through a list of elements, you often need to retrieve the next element.  A list of elements can be iterated through Python using several methods in this tutorial. So read the tutorial very carefully to understand your concepts.

Using the enumerate function

One way to get the next element while iterating through a list is to use the built-in enumerate function. By using the enumerate function, an iterable is added to a counter and returned as a (index, element) tuple. Here is an example of how to use the enumerate function to get the next element while iterating through a list:

# list of colors
colors = ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'purple']

# iterate through the list and print the index and element
for i, color in enumerate(colors):
    # check if the current element is not the last element
    if i + 1 < len(colors):
        # print the next element
        print(colors[i + 1])

# Output: green
#         blue
#         purple

In the example above, we use the enumerate function to iterate through the list of colors and get the index and element. We then check if the current element is not the last element in the list by comparing the index to the length of the list. If the current element is not the last element, we print the next element by using the index i + 1.

By using a for loop with the range function

You can also use a for loop with the range function to get the next item in a list when iterating through it. By using the range function, you are able to generate an array of numbers with a sequence of letters, which can then be used to iterate over a list. Here is an example of how to use a for loop with the range function to get the next element while iterating through a list:

# list of colors
colors = ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'purple']

# iterate through the list and print the element and the next element
for i in range(len(colors) - 1):
    print(colors[i], colors[i + 1])

# Output: red green
#         green blue
#         blue purple

A for loop is used in this example to iterate through the colors. The range function generates a sequence of numbers from 0 to len(colors) - 1, which we use as the indices to access the elements in the list. We then print the current element and the next element by using the indices i and i + 1.

Creating iterator object using next() function:

# creating a list of numbers
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# creating an iterator object
iterator = iter(numbers)

# getting the first element
print(next(iterator))  # Output: 1

# getting the second element
print(next(iterator))  # Output: 2

# getting the third element
print(next(iterator))  # Output: 3

Output:

1
2
3

In the example stated above, iterator object from the ‘numbers’ list is created with the help of ‘iter()’ function. After that, the next() function on the iterator object gets the next element.

Creating iterator object using for loop:

Another method to iterate list in Python is done by using for loop. When iterating through a list, you don’t have to worry about StopIteration exceptions. Look at the code given below for better understanding of method.

# creating a list of numbers
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

#iterating through the list
for number in numbers:
    print(number)

Output:

1
2
3
4
5

Iterating through a list is easier and cleaner with a for loop.

Conclusion:

Our goal in this article was to examine different ways of getting the next element in a Python list as we iterate through it. In order to solve this problem, we presented a method of enumerating the values and then applying the range function in a for loop.