Generators & Iterators in PHP
From the PHP cheat sheet · Advanced Features · verified Jul 2026
Generators & Iterators
Memory-efficient iteration with generators
php
// Simple generator
function getNumbers() {
for ($i = 1; $i <= 3; $i++) {
yield $i;
}
}
foreach (getNumbers() as $number) {
echo $number;
}
// Generator with keys
function getUsers() {
yield 'admin' => 'Alice';
yield 'user' => 'Bob';
}💡 Generators use yield to pause and resume execution
⚡ Perfect for processing large datasets with low memory
📌 yield from delegates to another generator
🔥 Generators maintain state between iterations