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Yield in Python - Take Your Functions To The Next Level

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21st Sep, 2023
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    Yield in Python - Take Your Functions To The Next Level

    In this comprehensive article, we will learn about Python's yield keyword. If you’re a Python developer, you must be knowing the Generators in Python. The key to defining a Python generator is to use the “yield” keyword. The Python yield generator is largely used in scenarios when we need large collections, improve the readability of our code, and in other certain scenarios such as multi-threading. You may or may not know how to use the “yield” keyword correctly yet. Let’s understand what exactly the yield in Python is, yield in python examples and how it makes the lives of developers exponentially easier.

    What is Yield in Python?

    Yield is a statement that is used in functions and that function can provide a result back to the caller (like a return in a normal function), but the function will then continue to execute with all of the local variables staying intact. Any function in Python that contains a yield keyword is termed a generator function. In essence, the yield statement is used to create a generator function in Python, instead of returning everything at once using the return keyword.

    Yield is a very useful Python feature when we are dealing with huge datasets. 

    What does the yield keyword do?

    Basically, the python yield statement converts a function into a generator function, i.e., a function which can return an intermediate value to the caller (the "next" value) but maintains the function's local state so that the function can resume again at the place it left off. 

    The generator can then be used in any place a normal iterative statement can be used, for e.g., inside a for-loop. 

    What are The Generator Functions in Python?

    A generator function in Python is defined as a normal function, but whenever it needs to generate a new value, it does so use the yield keyword rather than the return keyword. If the body of the function contains yield, the function can automatically be termed a generator function. 

    Any generator function returns a generator object. Generator objects are used either by calling the next method on the generator object or using the generator object in any loop. 

    So, a generator function returns a generator object that can be used as an Iterator.

    Below is a Python program to demonstrate the object with the next method for clear understanding.

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    generator functions in python

    CODE:- 

    def simpleGeneratorFun() 
    yield 1 
    yield 2 
    yield 3 
    x=simpleGeneratorFun() 
    print(x.next()) 
    print(x.next()) 
    print(x.next()) 

    What Are the Approaches to Overcoming Generator Exhaustion in Python?

    To overcome generator exhaustion, we can follow three approaches:

    • Approach 1: Replenish the generator by recreating it again and iterating over.
    • Approach 2: Iterate by calling the function that created the generator in the first place. This will continue to work no matter how many times we iterate it.
    • Approach 3 (efficient): Convert it to a class that implements an _iter_() method. This creates an iterator every time, so we don’t have to worry about the generator getting exhausted. This is the most efficient way to overcome Generator exhaustion.

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    How to Materialize Generators?

    In Python, we can generate sequences of data, but can only make them concrete when we consume the generator or evaluate the mapping or range. 

    We can materialize the Generators in Python by calling list(). Calling list() on the generator transforms it into a normal list. 

    How Does Yield Works in Python?

    Now we will understand how yield works behind the scenes.

    When the yield return statement is reached in the iterator method, an expression is returned, and the current location of the code is retained. The execution is restarted from that location the next time the iterator function is called.

    The yield shall be used, when we want to iterate over a sequence, but don’t want to store the entire sequence in memory.

    Below are some examples for a better understanding of the working of yield in Python.

    • Example 1: - In this example, we are yielding a square of a number between one to hundred using a loop.

    how yield works in python

    CODE:- 

    def SquareOfNumbers(): 
    i=1 
    while True: 
    yield i*i 
    i+=1 
    for num in SquareOfNumbers(): 
    if num>100 
        break 
    print(num) 
    • Example 2: The most possible practical application of using yield in Python is that when handling the last amount of data and searching particular words from it, yield can be used as we don’t need to look up again from start and hence would reduce time complexity. There can possibly be many applications of yield depending upon its use cases.

    practical applocation of using yield in python

    CODE: - 

    def print_even(test_string): 
    for i in test_string: 
        if i==”demo”: 
              yield i 
    demo_string=”This is demo string,\ This is demo string, This is demo string” 
    count = 0 
    print(“The number of demo in string is : ”, end=””) 
    demo_string=demo_string.split() 
    for j in print_even(demo_string): 
    count=count+1 
    print(count) 

    How Does Yield Work in a Function?

    The yield statement suspends the function’s execution and sends the value back to the caller but retains enough state to enable the function to resume/start where it left off. When the function resumes, it continues execution immediately after the last yield run. This allows its code to produce a series of values over time, rather than computing them at once and sending them back like a list. 

    Let’s understand this with an example:

    how does yield work in a function

    CODE:- 

    def YieldFunction(): 
    yield 1 
    yield 2 
    yield 3 
    for value in YieldFunction(): 
    print(value) 

    When Should We Use Yield?

    Now we will understand why we should use the yield keyword rather than the return keyword in Python.

    Whenever the control reaches the return statement in our program, the execution of the program is terminated, and the remaining statements will not be executed.

    However, in the case of yield, whenever the control reaches the yield statement in our program, the execution of our program is paused, and later we can continue other statements in the function.

    It is recommended to use yield when we want to iterate over a sequence, however, because of resource constraints or simply when we don’t want to store the entire sequence in memory. For other cases, we can think of using a return statement instead of a yield. 

    • If we want faster execution or computation over large datasets, yield is a better option. Also, when the size of returned data is quite large, instead of storing them in a list, we can use yield to reduce memory consumption. 

    How Is Yield Different from Return in Python?

    • In general yield keyword in Python means “Provide output and continue”, whereas the return keyword means “Provide output and stop 
    • The yield keyword is used inside the function, and it does not exit the function keeping the states of the local variable intact. 
    • On another hand, the return keyword destroys the states of the local variable, and it exits the function. 
    • The code after the return statement is not executed as it terminates the function and returns a value to the caller. But in the case of the yield keyword, the code written after the yield statement is executed in subsequent function calls. 
    • yield statement in a function makes the function a generator function, which can be used in a loop. When the function is running, and the yield executes, the value after the yield is passed back to the loop that is called it. The next time the loop iterates, the function starts immediately after the yield statements. For instance, this loop (lines 6 to 7) prints the values 1 to 3. 
    • In the example given above, the loop that invokes the function will be completed when the function completes - either meets the end of the function or a return statement. 
    • Any new loop which uses the same generator function will execute the function from the start again. 
    • On another end, the return statement is used to stop the execution of a function, and optionally return a value to the caller. A function that has a return (but not a yield) cannot be used in a loop (in contrast to the above). 
    • If a function that has previously been executed is called again, the function begins execution from the start (unlike yield above). 
    • There are no rules against using yield and return in the function, but in that case, the function will operate as a generator function; i.e. it operates as if it is invoked from a loop. If the function reaches the return, then the calling loop will exit and any return value is ignored. 

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    What Are the Advantages of Yield in Python?

    Some of the advantages of using yield are mentioned below. 

    • The yield keyword stores the local variable states; hence the overhead of memory allocation is controlled. 
    • Since the old state is retained, the flow doesn’t start from the beginning and hence saves time. 
    • If we want to make continuous calls to a function that contains a yield statement, it starts from the last defined yield statement, and hence, we can save a lot of time in computation. 
    • It can be used to produce an infinite stream of data. 
    • Improves the memory efficiency- and subsequently, the speed/performance, when we are looping over large iterable data sets. 

    What Are the Disadvantages of Yield in Python?

    Although using the yield keyword in Python has many advantages, it comes with a few disadvantages too, some of which are mentioned below. 

    • Sometimes, the use of yield becomes erroneous if the calling of the function is not handled properly. 
    • Time and memory optimization has a cost of complexity of code and hence sometimes hard to understand the logic behind it. 
    • Code becomes more complex making it less readable and a bit more difficult to understand. 

    Conclusion

    Summing up, in this article we learned how we can explore and use the yield keyword in Python to optimize programs in terms of both speed and memory. How we can use the yield statements in Python to return multiple values from generator functions. Yield is highly memory-efficient and increases the overall performance of the code by saving time. It saves memory because it stores the values to be returned as local variables state, and also each time when the function is executed, it need not start from the beginning as the previous states are retained. This is what makes yield keywords highly popular among python developers and makes their lives easier. It is a great alternative to return statements in Python.

    Frequently Asked Question’s (FAQ’s)

    1. What is the difference between yield and return in Python?

    Yield keyword is generally used to convert a regular Python function into a   generator, whereas return keyword is generally used for the end of the execution and it “returns” the result to the caller statement.

    2. Why do we need yield in Python?

    Yield keyword is used extensively as an alternative to returning a statement in a function. This function then returns a generator that can be iterated upon instead of output. We can iterate through the generator to extract items.

    3. Can we use yield and return in same function Python?

    When yield and return are used in the same function in Python, the function still remains a generator. A generator function can also contain return statements.

    Profile

    Eshaan Pandey

    Author

    Eshaan is a Full Stack web developer skilled in MERN stack. He is a quick learner and has the ability to adapt quickly with respect to projects and technologies assigned to him. He has also worked previously on UI/UX web projects and delivered successfully. Eshaan has worked as an SDE Intern at Frazor for a span of 2 months. He has also worked as a Technical Blog Writer at KnowledgeHut upGrad writing articles on various technical topics.

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