Boost your Python skills with itertools magic!

10 Python itertools Tricks I Wish I Knew Sooner! 🚀

Discover 10 powerful itertools tricks to write cleaner, faster, and more efficient Python code.

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

If you’ve ever worked with large datasets, nested loops, or complex iterations in Python, you’ve probably faced situations where regular loops feel too slow or clunky. This is where itertools comes to the rescue!

Python’s itertools module provides powerful functions that make working with iterators faster, memory-efficient, and more readable.

In this article, I'll share 10 essential itertools tricks that I wish I had learned earlier—saving countless hours of coding!

1. itertools.count() – Infinite Counting Made Easy

If you need an infinite counter that keeps going? count() generates numbers indefinitely.

from itertools import count

for num in count(start=1, step=2):
    print(num, end=" ")
    if num > 10:
        break  # Stop the infinite loop

# output - 1 3 5 7 9 11

Unlike range(), which requires predefined limits, count() is infinite and lazy, making it ideal for iterating over infinite sequences.