Java Design Pattern: Iterator

Iterator pattern is used to iterate through a collection of objects. It is a commonly used pattern, you probably have used it before. Whenever you sees something like hasNext() and next(), it is probably a iterator pattern. For example, you may iterate through a list of database query record.

Iterator Pattern Class Diagram

Iterator Pattern Java Code

interface IIterator{
	public boolean hasNext();
	public Object next();
}
 
interface IContainer{
	public IIterator createIterator();
}
 
class RecordCollection implements IContainer{
	private String recordArray[] = {"first","second","third","fourth","fifth"};
 
	public IIterator createIterator(){
		RecordIterator iterator = new RecordIterator();
		return iterator;
	}
 
	private class RecordIterator implements IIterator{
		private int index;
 
		public boolean hasNext(){
			if (index < recordArray.length)
				return true;
			else
				return false;
		}
 
		public Object next(){
			if (this.hasNext())
				return recordArray[index++];
			else
				return null;
		}
	}
}
 
public class TestIterator {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		RecordCollection recordCollection = new RecordCollection();
		IIterator iter = recordCollection.createIterator();
 
		while(iter.hasNext()){
			System.out.println(iter.next());
		}	
	}
}

Iterator Pattern used in JDK

In java.util package, the Iterator interface is defined as follows:

public interface Iterator<E> {
    boolean hasNext();
    E next();
    void remove();
}

Then there are class that can create an Iterator, e.g., TreeSet#iterator(), HashSet#iterator(), etc.

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Java Design Pattern: Iterator

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