Calling a generator multiple times

[Alex Martelli]

Bruce Eckel wrote:

> I'm trying to create a clever way to call a generator multiple
> times, but the only thing I've been able to come up with is:
> 
> import random
> rgen = random.Random()
> def itemGenerator(dummy):
>   return rgen.choice(['one', 'two', 'three', 'four'])
>   
> print map(itemGenerator, [None]* 25)
> 
> This works, but it requires the 'dummy' argument which seems
> inelegant. I'll bet someone has a better idea...

Why not just:

def itemChooser(): return rgen.choice(('one','two','three','four'))

print [itemChooser() for i in range(25)]


(In Python 2.2 and later, 'generator' is a specific term, used in "from 
__future__ import" in particular, for a function containing keyword 'yield' 
and thus returning an iterator; like other terms that get hijacked by some 
programming language for specific meanings, such as "module", "function", 
"type", etc, it's thus best avoided in its non-specific wider sense:-).


Alex