Python enumerate()

languages = ['Python', 'Java', 'JavaScript']

enumerate_languages = enumerate(languages)

# convert enumerate object to list
print(list(enumerate_languages))

# Output: [(0, 'Python'), (1, 'Java'), (2, 'JavaScript')]

Syntax of enumerate()

The syntax of enumerate() is:

enumerate(iterable, start=0)

enumerate() Arguments

The enumerate() function takes two arguments:

• iterable - a sequence, an iterator, or objects that support iteration
• start (optional) - enumerate() starts counting from this number. If start is omitted, 0 is taken as start.

enumerate() Return Value

The enumerate() function adds counter to an iterable and returns it. The returned object is an enumerate object.

You can convert enumerate objects to list and tuple using list() and tuple() functions respectively.

Example 1: Working of enumerate()

grocery = ['bread', 'milk', 'butter']
enumerateGrocery = enumerate(grocery)

print(type(enumerateGrocery))

# converting to list
print(list(enumerateGrocery))

# changing the default counter
enumerateGrocery = enumerate(grocery, 10)
print(list(enumerateGrocery))

Output

<class 'enumerate'>
[(0, 'bread'), (1, 'milk'), (2, 'butter')]
[(10, 'bread'), (11, 'milk'), (12, 'butter')]

Example 2: Looping Over an Enumerate object

grocery = ['bread', 'milk', 'butter']

for item in enumerate(grocery):
  print(item)

print()

for count, item in enumerate(grocery):
  print(count, item)

print()

# changing default start value
for count, item in enumerate(grocery, 100):
  print(count, item)

Output

(0, 'bread')
(1, 'milk')
(2, 'butter')

0 bread
1 milk
2 butter

100 bread
101 milk
102 butter