[Python-ideas] `__iter__` for queues?

[MRAB]

Georg Brandl wrote:
> Am 19.01.2010 21:20, schrieb cool-RR:
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 11:10 PM, Simon Brunning
>> <simon at brunningonline.net
>> <mailto:simon at brunningonline.net>> wrote:
>>
>>     2010/1/19 cool-RR <cool-rr at cool-rr.com
>>     <mailto:cool-rr at cool-rr.com>>:
>>     > Is there a reason that queues don't have an `__iter__` method? I
>>     mean both
>>     > `Queue.Queue` and `multiprocessing.Queue`.
>>
>>     Could it be made threadsafe?
>>
>>     --
>>     Cheers,
>>     Simon B.
>>
>>
>> For me, iterating on the queue means just calling `get` repeatedly until
>> it's empty. Now that I think about it, maybe this is not the most
>> obvious meaning? I'm not sure now.
> 
> Your obvious queue iterator would call get(block=False) and stop on Empty.
> The other obvious meaning is be to call get(block=True) forever.  IMO they
> are both too "obvious" to make a call -- an explicit while loop is better.
> 
To me the 'obvious' meaning is to call get(block=True) and have it raise
Empty (actually, StopIteration) when the queue is empty and the 'sender'
has somehow signalled that no more items will be put into the queue
(q.finished()?). This would also eliminate the need for a sentinel!