Patterns and Iterators in C# - Iterators
(Page 3 of 4 )
Whereas a foreach statement is a consumer of an enumerator, an iterator is a producer of an enumerator. In this example, we use an iterator to return a sequence of Fibonacci numbers (where each number is the sum of the previous two):
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class Test
{
static void Main()
{
foreach (int fib in Fibs(6))
Console.Write (fib + " ");
}
static IEnumerable<int>Fibs(int fibCount)
{
for (int i = 0, prevFib = 1, curFib = 1; i < fibCount; i++)
{
yield return prevFib;
int newFib = prevFib+curFib;
prevFib = curFib;
curFib = newFib;
}
}
}
OUTPUT: 1 1 2 3 5 8
Whereas areturnstatement expresses “Here’s the value you asked me to return from this method,” ayield return statement expresses “Here’s the next element you asked me to yield from this enumerator.” On eachyieldstatement, control is returned to the caller, but the callee’s state is maintained so that the method can continue executing as soon as the caller enumerates the next element. The lifetime of this state is bound to the enumerator, such that the state can be released when the caller has finished enumerating.
Next: Iterator Semantics >>
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 This article is excerpted from chapter four of C# 3.0 in a Nutshell, Third Edition, A Desktop Quick Reference, written by Joseph Albahari and Ben Albahari (O'Reilly; ISBN: 0596527578). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
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