Efficient Data Handling with Generators In modern backend development, especially when dealing with large volumes of financial or time-series data, efficiency, responsiveness, and scalability are non-negotiable. Python's generators provide a clean and memory-efficient solution for such scenarios. In this article, we'll explore: What Python generators are (and what they are not) How generators work under the hood Practical use cases (like stock data streaming) Examples from MJ-API-Development, JobFinders, and more ✅ What Are Python Generators? A generator is a special type of iterable, like a list or a tuple, but instead of returning all items at once, it yields one item at a time — only when requested. You define a generator with a function that contains the yield keyword: def generate_numbers(n): for i in range(n): yield i When this function is called, it returns a generator object that you can iterate over using next() or a loop: gen = generate_numbers(3) print(next(gen)) # 0 print(next(gen)) # 1 print(next(gen)) # 2 When there are no more items to yield, the generator raises a StopIteration exception.

Apr 30, 2025 - 19:16
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Efficient Data Handling with Generators

In modern backend development, especially when dealing with large volumes of financial or time-series data, efficiency, responsiveness, and scalability are non-negotiable. Python's generators provide a clean and memory-efficient solution for such scenarios.

In this article, we'll explore:

  • What Python generators are (and what they are not)
  • How generators work under the hood
  • Practical use cases (like stock data streaming)
  • Examples from MJ-API-Development, JobFinders, and more

✅ What Are Python Generators?

A generator is a special type of iterable, like a list or a tuple, but instead of returning all items at once, it yields one item at a time — only when requested.

You define a generator with a function that contains the yield keyword:

def generate_numbers(n):
    for i in range(n):
        yield i

When this function is called, it returns a generator object that you can iterate over using next() or a loop:

gen = generate_numbers(3)
print(next(gen))  # 0
print(next(gen))  # 1
print(next(gen))  # 2

When there are no more items to yield, the generator raises a StopIteration exception.