How to len(generator())

Python generators are very useful. They have advantages over functions that return lists. However, you could len(list_returning_function()). Is there a way to len(generator_function())?

UPDATE:
Of course len(list(generator_function())) would work.....
I'm trying to use a generator I've created inside a new generator I'm creating. As part of the calculation in the new generator it needs to know the length of the old one. However I would like to keep both of them together with the same properties as a generator, specifically - not maintain the entire list in memory as it may be very long.

UPDATE 2:
Assume the generator knows it's target length even from the first step. Also, there's no reason to maintain the len() syntax. Example - if functions in Python are objects, couldn't I assign the length to a variable of this object that would be accessible to the new generator?

Solution

Generators have no length, they aren't collections after all.

Generators are functions with a internal state (and fancy syntax). You can repeatedly call them to get a sequence of values, so you can use them in loop. But they don't contain any elements, so asking for the length of a generator is like asking for the length of a function.

if functions in Python are objects, couldn't I assign the length to a variable of this object that would be accessible to the new generator?

Functions are objects, but you cannot assign new attributes to them. The reason is probably to keep such a basic object as efficient as possible.

You can however simply return (generator, length) pairs from your functions or wrap the generator in a simple object like this:

class GeneratorLen(object):
    def __init__(self, gen, length):
        self.gen = gen
        self.length = length

    def __len__(self): 
        return self.length

    def __iter__(self):
        return self.gen

g = some_generator()
h = GeneratorLen(g, 1)
print len(h), list(h)