Myung Ho Kim

Summary An iterator is a language mechanism that facilitates successive enumeration of all the elements of a collection in some definite order. Java provides an iterator-like interface called Enumeration. The implementation model imposed by enumerations is known as cursor objects. It is not a simple task, however, to develop enumerations for non-linear data structures or for those with complex control in terms of cursors. This is because the enumeration procedure for a cursor is confined to use only simple control structures. In this article, a new iterator mechanism is proposed for Java in which enumeration procedures can be described as if they were ordinary traversal procedures. It is fine to use arbitrary control structures such as recursive calls or infinite loops when developing enumeration procedures. Iterators are defined to implement the Enumeration interfa... (more)