Java enhanced enhanced for loop

Question

Currently (as of Java 6), using Java's enhanced for-loop I do not know of any way to directly access the iterator index short of reverting to the old indexed for-loop or using an outside counter.

Are there plans (or perhaps a current way) to implement this "enhanced enhanced" for-loop where one would be able to access the index of the loop (and even possibly manipulate it)?

As an example where this might be needed, consider(this is from actual production code):

int i = 1;
for (final String action : actions) {
  parameters.set(String.valueOf(i++), action);
}

Answer 1

Why would they need to provide yet another way of accessing elements by index?

The enhanced for loop was created as a shortcut for when you don't need the index of the element. It streamlined things.

If you still need the index, fall back to a regular for loop. That's one of the reasons they're there.

Answer 2

Well, like you said, if you must have an index just use a standard for loop, or update a counter manually.

But rethink your question. Why should you need an index in a for (Object o : list) loop?

The whole point of using an enhanced loop is to abstract away the nasty parts of using an index or an iterator.

Most languages today do not give this kind of functionality in loops. Just as an example, the Pythonic way to do this is:

for index, val in enumerate(someList):
    # ....