Checking whether something is iterable
The simplest solution is actually this:
if (Symbol.iterator in Object(value)) {
}
Object
will wrap anything which isn't an object into one. This prevents the in
operator from throwing exceptions and removes the need to check for edge cases. null
and undefined
become empty objects while strings are wrapped into iterable String objects.
I would personally recommend inlining this code instead of defining a function, as it is relatively short and less ambiguous than a call to some isIterable(x)
function.
The proper way to check for iterability is as follows:
function isIterable(obj) {
// checks for null and undefined
if (obj == null) {
return false;
}
return typeof obj[Symbol.iterator] === 'function';
}
Why this works (iterable protocol in depth): https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Iteration_protocols
Since we are talking about for..of, I assume, we are in ES6 mindset.
Also, don't be surprised that this function returns true
if obj
is a string, as strings iterate over their characters.
Why so verbose?
const isIterable = object =>
object != null && typeof object[Symbol.iterator] === 'function'