[refactor] Make base assertion comparisons return an iterator instead of a list of string

src/_pytest/assertion/__init__.py

@@ -223,11 +223,14 @@ def pytest_assertrepr_compare(
     else:
         # Keep it plaintext when not using terminalrepoterer (#14377).
         highlighter = util.dummy_highlighter
-    return util.assertrepr_compare(
-        op=op,
-        left=left,
-        right=right,
-        verbose=config.get_verbosity(Config.VERBOSITY_ASSERTIONS),
-        highlighter=highlighter,
-        assertion_text_diff_style=util.get_assertion_text_diff_style(config),
+    explanation = list(
+        util.assertrepr_compare(
+            op=op,
+            left=left,
+            right=right,
+            verbose=config.get_verbosity(Config.VERBOSITY_ASSERTIONS),
+            highlighter=highlighter,
+            assertion_text_diff_style=util.get_assertion_text_diff_style(config),
+        )
     )
+    return explanation or None

src/_pytest/assertion/_compare_any.py

@@ -28,54 +28,52 @@ def _compare_eq_any(
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     verbose: int,
     assertion_text_diff_style: _AssertionTextDiffStyle,
-) -> list[str]:
-    explanation = []
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    """Yield the per-line explanation for ``left == right`` (without summary).
+
+    Yields nothing when no specialised explanation applies, so consumers
+    can stream the output and bail out early (e.g. for truncation) without
+    materialising the entire diff first.
+    """
     if istext(left) and istext(right):
-        explanation = list(
-            _compare_eq_text(
-                left,
-                right,
-                highlighter,
-                verbose,
-                assertion_text_diff_style,
-            )
+        yield from _compare_eq_text(
+            left,
+            right,
+            highlighter,
+            verbose,
+            assertion_text_diff_style,
         )
     else:
         from _pytest.python_api import ApproxBase
 
         # Although the common order should be obtained == approx(...), allow both ways.
         if isinstance(right, ApproxBase):
-            explanation = right._repr_compare(left)
+            yield from right._repr_compare(left)
         elif isinstance(left, ApproxBase):
-            explanation = left._repr_compare(right)
+            yield from left._repr_compare(right)
         elif type(left) is type(right) and (
             isdatacls(left) or isattrs(left) or isnamedtuple(left)
         ):
             # Note: unlike dataclasses/attrs, namedtuples compare only the
             # field values, not the type or field names. But this branch
             # intentionally only handles the same-type case, which was often
             # used in older code bases before dataclasses/attrs were available.
-            explanation = list(
-                _compare_eq_cls(
-                    left,
-                    right,
-                    highlighter,
-                    verbose,
-                    assertion_text_diff_style,
-                )
+            yield from _compare_eq_cls(
+                left,
+                right,
+                highlighter,
+                verbose,
+                assertion_text_diff_style,
             )
         elif issequence(left) and issequence(right):
-            explanation = list(_compare_eq_sequence(left, right, highlighter, verbose))
+            yield from _compare_eq_sequence(left, right, highlighter, verbose)
         elif isset(left) and isset(right):
-            explanation = _compare_eq_set(left, right, highlighter, verbose)
+            yield from _compare_eq_set(left, right, highlighter, verbose)
         elif ismapping(left) and ismapping(right):
-            explanation = list(_compare_eq_mapping(left, right, highlighter, verbose))
+            yield from _compare_eq_mapping(left, right, highlighter, verbose)
 
         if isiterable(left) and isiterable(right):
-            expl = _compare_eq_iterable(left, right, highlighter, verbose)
-            explanation.extend(expl)
-
-    return explanation
+            yield from _compare_eq_iterable(left, right, highlighter, verbose)
 
 
 def _compare_eq_cls(

src/_pytest/assertion/_compare_set.py

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from collections.abc import Callable
+from collections.abc import Iterable
+from collections.abc import Iterator
 from collections.abc import Set as AbstractSet
 from typing import TypeAlias
 
@@ -13,73 +15,69 @@ def _set_one_sided_diff(
     set1: AbstractSet[object],
     set2: AbstractSet[object],
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
-) -> list[str]:
-    explanation = []
+) -> Iterator[str]:
     diff = set1 - set2
     if diff:
-        explanation.append(f"Extra items in the {posn} set:")
+        yield f"Extra items in the {posn} set:"
         for item in diff:
-            explanation.append(highlighter(saferepr(item)))
-    return explanation
+            yield highlighter(saferepr(item))
 
 
 def _compare_eq_set(
     left: AbstractSet[object],
     right: AbstractSet[object],
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     verbose: int = 0,
-) -> list[str]:
-    explanation = []
-    explanation.extend(_set_one_sided_diff("left", left, right, highlighter))
-    explanation.extend(_set_one_sided_diff("right", right, left, highlighter))
-    return explanation
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    yield from _set_one_sided_diff("left", left, right, highlighter)
+    yield from _set_one_sided_diff("right", right, left, highlighter)
 
 
-def _compare_gt_set(
+def _compare_gte_set(
     left: AbstractSet[object],
     right: AbstractSet[object],
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     verbose: int = 0,
-) -> list[str]:
-    explanation = _compare_gte_set(left, right, highlighter)
-    if not explanation:
-        return ["Both sets are equal"]
-    return explanation
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    yield from _set_one_sided_diff("right", right, left, highlighter)
 
 
-def _compare_lt_set(
+def _compare_lte_set(
     left: AbstractSet[object],
     right: AbstractSet[object],
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     verbose: int = 0,
-) -> list[str]:
-    explanation = _compare_lte_set(left, right, highlighter)
-    if not explanation:
-        return ["Both sets are equal"]
-    return explanation
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    yield from _set_one_sided_diff("left", left, right, highlighter)
 
 
-def _compare_gte_set(
+def _compare_gt_set(
     left: AbstractSet[object],
     right: AbstractSet[object],
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     verbose: int = 0,
-) -> list[str]:
-    return _set_one_sided_diff("right", right, left, highlighter)
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    if left == right:
+        yield "Both sets are equal"
+    else:
+        yield from _set_one_sided_diff("right", right, left, highlighter)
 
 
-def _compare_lte_set(
+def _compare_lt_set(
     left: AbstractSet[object],
     right: AbstractSet[object],
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     verbose: int = 0,
-) -> list[str]:
-    return _set_one_sided_diff("left", left, right, highlighter)
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    if left == right:
+        yield "Both sets are equal"
+    else:
+        yield from _set_one_sided_diff("left", left, right, highlighter)
 
 
 SetComparisonFunction: TypeAlias = Callable[
     [AbstractSet[object], AbstractSet[object], _HighlightFunc, int],
-    list[str],
+    Iterable[str],
 ]
 
 SET_COMPARISON_FUNCTIONS: dict[str, SetComparisonFunction] = {

src/_pytest/assertion/util.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from collections.abc import Callable
+from collections.abc import Iterator
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from typing import Literal
 from unicodedata import normalize
@@ -139,8 +140,18 @@ def assertrepr_compare(
     verbose: int,
     highlighter: _HighlightFunc,
     assertion_text_diff_style: _AssertionTextDiffStyle,
-) -> list[str] | None:
-    """Return specialised explanations for some operators/operands."""
+) -> Iterator[str]:
+    """Yield specialised explanations for some operators/operands.
+
+    The first line yielded is always the summary (``left op right``);
+    subsequent lines are the detailed explanation. Yields nothing when no
+    specialised explanation applies, which lets consumers map an empty
+    iterator to "no explanation" without materialising anything.
+
+    The iterator is lazy on purpose: a streaming consumer can stop pulling
+    lines as soon as it has enough to show, so an enormous diff doesn't
+    have to be built in full just to be thrown away.
+    """
     # Strings which normalize equal are often hard to distinguish when printed; use ascii() to make this easier.
     # See issue #3246.
     use_ascii = (
@@ -164,37 +175,43 @@ def assertrepr_compare(
 
     summary = f"{left_repr} {op} {right_repr}"
 
-    explanation = None
     try:
         if op == "==":
-            explanation = _compare_eq_any(
+            source: Iterator[str] = _compare_eq_any(
                 left,
                 right,
                 highlighter,
                 verbose,
                 assertion_text_diff_style,
             )
-        elif op == "not in":
-            if istext(left) and istext(right):
-                explanation = list(_notin_text(left, right, verbose))
-        elif op in {"!=", ">=", "<=", ">", "<"}:
-            if isset(left) and isset(right):
-                explanation = SET_COMPARISON_FUNCTIONS[op](
-                    left, right, highlighter, verbose
-                )
-
+        elif op == "not in" and istext(left) and istext(right):
+            source = _notin_text(left, right, verbose)
+        elif op in {"!=", ">=", "<=", ">", "<"} and isset(left) and isset(right):
+            source = iter(
+                SET_COMPARISON_FUNCTIONS[op](left, right, highlighter, verbose)
+            )
+        else:
+            source = iter(())
+
+        # Only yield the summary if there is a detailed explanation.
+        # Make sure there's a separating empty line after the summary.
+        summary_yielded = False
+        for line in source:
+            if not summary_yielded:
+                yield summary
+                if line != "":
+                    yield ""
+                summary_yielded = True
+            yield line
     except outcomes.Exit:
         raise
     except Exception:
         repr_crash = _pytest._code.ExceptionInfo.from_current()._getreprcrash()
-        explanation = [
-            f"(pytest_assertion plugin: representation of details failed: {repr_crash}.",
-            " Probably an object has a faulty __repr__.)",
-        ]
-
-    if not explanation:
-        return None
-
-    if explanation[0] != "":
-        explanation = ["", *explanation]
-    return [summary, *explanation]
+        if not summary_yielded:
+            yield summary
+            yield ""
+            summary_yielded = True
+        yield (
+            f"(pytest_assertion plugin: representation of details failed: {repr_crash}."
+        )
+        yield " Probably an object has a faulty __repr__.)"

testing/test_assertion.py

@@ -1043,7 +1043,9 @@ def __repr__(self):
         assert expl is not None
         assert expl[0].startswith("{} == <[ValueError")
         assert "raised in repr" in expl[0]
-        assert expl[2:] == [
+        # Streaming explanation: any per-line output produced before the
+        # bad repr is preserved, then the failure notice is appended.
+        assert expl[-2:] == [
             "(pytest_assertion plugin: representation of details failed:"
             f" {__file__}:{A.__repr__.__code__.co_firstlineno + 1}: ValueError: 42.",
             " Probably an object has a faulty __repr__.)",