Cleanest way to get last item from Python iterator

If you are using Python 3.x:

*_, last = iterator # for a better understanding check PEP 448
print(last)

if you are using python 2.7:

last = next(iterator)
for last in iterator:
    continue
print last

Side Note:

Usually, the solution presented above is what you need for regular cases, but if you are dealing with a big amount of data, it's more efficient to use a deque of size 1. (source)

from collections import deque

#aa is an interator
aa = iter('apple')

dd = deque(aa, maxlen=1)
last_element = dd.pop()

Probably worth using __reversed__ if it is available

if hasattr(my_iter,'__reversed__'):
    last = next(reversed(my_iter))
else:
    for last in my_iter:
        pass

Use a deque of size 1.

from collections import deque

# aa is an iterator
aa = iter('apple')

dd = deque(aa, maxlen=1)
last_element = dd.pop()

Short version:

last_element, = deque(aa, 1)

item = defaultvalue
for item in my_iter:
    pass