Generator

The Generator object is returned by a generator function and it conforms to both the iterable protocol and the iterator protocol.

Constructor

This object cannot be instantiated directly. Instead, a Generator instance can be returned from a generator function:

function* generator() {
  yield 1;
  yield 2;
  yield 3;
}

const gen = generator(); // "Generator { }"

console.log(gen.next().value); // 1
console.log(gen.next().value); // 2
console.log(gen.next().value); // 3

Instance methods

Generator.prototype.next()

Returns a value yielded by the yield expression.

Generator.prototype.return()

Returns the given value and finishes the generator.

Generator.prototype.throw()

Throws an error to a generator (also finishes the generator, unless caught from within that generator).

Examples

An infinite iterator

With a generator function, values are not evaluated until they are needed. Therefore a generator allows us to define a potentially infinite data structure.

function* infinite() {
    let index = 0;

    while (true) {
        yield index++;
    }
}

const generator = infinite(); // "Generator { }"

console.log(generator.next().value); // 0
console.log(generator.next().value); // 1
console.log(generator.next().value); // 2
// ...

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
Generator
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13
26
No
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10
39
39
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10
4.0
next
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No
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10
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4.0
return
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No
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5.0
throw
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No
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4.0

See also

© 2005–2021 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Generator