Iterable is an interface whose implementers can be used with an enhance for loop.

Basically the implementer will be usable with a foreach loop.
e.g

     for (String spacecraft : spacecrafts) {
        System.out.println(spacecraft);
    }

Characteristics of Iterable Interface

Here are the characteristics of this interface with regards to its definitions:

First it’s an interface:

 public interface Iterable<T> {}

That belongs to java.lang package.

 package java.lang;

Functionality of Iterable

No. Functionality
1. As an interface Iterable contains one abstract method called iterator(). This method when implemented will return a generic Iterator<T> for elements of the invoker.
2. Iterable allows us create a class that can be looped over via the foreach loop.

Using an Iterable

It’s an interface so just implement:

 class Spacecrafts<T> implements Iterable<T> {..}

Then implement the iterator() method:

     public Iterator<T> iterator() {
        return null;
    }

Full Example

Here’s a complete Iterator example with a foreach loop:

1. Spacecrafts class

No. Role
1. This is the to be iterator. It represents a collection of spacecraft strings though it’s not a collection. Instead it maintains a private arraylist to be used for holding its data.
2. Implements iterable interface and overrides the iterator<T>() method.
3. Defines a method to allow for adding of data to be looped via the foreach loop. 
 class Spacecrafts implements Iterable {

    int nextCursor = 0;
    private ArrayList spacecrafts=new ArrayList<>();
    public Iterator iterator() {
        return new MyItr();
    }

    public void add(Object spacecraft)
    {
        spacecrafts.add(spacecraft);
    }
    public String get(int i)
    {
        return spacecrafts.get(i).toString();
    }
    public int length() {
        return spacecrafts.size();
    }

    /*
     * Iterabler
     */
    class MyItr implements Iterator {

        @Override
        public boolean hasNext() {
            if(nextCursor < spacecrafts.size())
            {
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }
        @Override
        public Object next() {
            Object nextSpacecraft;
            if(nextCursor == 0){
                nextSpacecraft=spacecrafts.get(0);
                nextCursor=nextCursor+1;
                return nextSpacecraft;
            }
            nextSpacecraft=spacecrafts.get(nextCursor);
            nextCursor=nextCursor+1;
            return nextSpacecraft;
        }

    }
}

1. Iterabler class

Here are the roles of this class: No. Role
1. This is our main class. It contains our main method that will be executed when we run the project.
2. We instantiate our Spacecrafts class and add data to it.
3. Then loop through that data via foreach loop displaying in the console.

Just add the following code above the Spacecrafts class in the same file:

 import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;

public class Iterable_Iterator  {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Spacecrafts spacecrafts=new Spacecrafts();

        spacecrafts.add("Casini");
        spacecrafts.add("Kepler");
        spacecrafts.add("Galileo");
        spacecrafts.add("Hubble");

        Iterator it=spacecrafts.iterator();
        while (it.hasNext()) {
            String s=it.next().toString();
            System.out.println(s);
        }

        spacecrafts.add("Spitzer");
        spacecrafts.add("New Horizon");
        spacecrafts.add("Voyager");
        spacecrafts.add("Star Dust");

        for (Object s : spacecrafts) {
            System.out.println(s.toString());
        }

    }
}

Results

Casini
Kepler
Galileo
Hubble
Spitzer
New Horizon
Voyager
Star Dust

Categorized in:

Java