Argument of type builtin_function_or_method is not iterable

Argument of type builtin_function_or_method is not iterable #

The Python "TypeError: argument of type 'builtin_function_or_method' is not iterable" occurs when we use the in or not in operators with a built-in function but forget to call it. To solve the error, make sure to call the built-in function, e.g. my_dict.keys().

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

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my_dict = {'id': 1,  'name': 'Alice'}

# ⛔️ TypeError: argument of type 'builtin_function_or_method' is not iterable
print('id' in my_dict.keys) # 👈️ forgot to call function

To solve the error, make sure to call the built-in function.

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my_dict = {'id': 1,  'name': 'Alice'}

print('id' in my_dict.keys())  # 👉️ True

We used parenthesis to invoke the built-in function, so now we check for membership in the iterable rather than the function.

Here is another example of how the error occurs when using the str.split() method.

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my_str = 'a,b,c'

# ⛔️ TypeError: argument of type 'builtin_function_or_method' is not iterable
print('a' in my_str.split) # 👈️ forgot to call function

We forgot to call the method which caused the error.

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my_str = 'a,b,c'
print('a' in my_str.split(','))  # 👉️ True

my_other_str = 'HELLO WORLD'
print('hello' in my_other_str.lower())  # 👉️ True

Adding parenthesis to call the method resolves the issue.

The in operator tests for membership. For example, x in s evaluates to True if x is a member of s, otherwise it evaluates to False.

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my_str = 'hello world'

print('world' in my_str)  # 👉️ True

print('another' in my_str)  # 👉️ False

x not in s returns the negation of x in s.

All built-in sequences and set types support the in and not in operators.

When used with a dictionary, the operators check for the existence of the specified key in the dict object.