True, for now and in the ArcPy realm, calling the search cursor's next method will get the same result. I suggested using the built-in next method because of broader changes happening with Python outside of ArcPy. For Python 3 after PEP 3114 was approved, it meant the next() iterator method was going away. The Transition Plan for PEP 3114 covers two additional changes needed for moving to Python 3:
- Method definitions named next will be renamed to __next__ .
- Explicit calls to the next method will be replaced with calls to the built-in next function. For example, x.next() will become next(x) .
The built-in next function was introduced in Python 2.6 to smooth the transition. Since we know that Esri has made the leap to Python 3 with ArcGIS Pro, I suggested an approach using the built-in function. For now, Esri's implementation of the ArcPy Data Access (arcpy.da) module in ArcGIS Pro still includes cursors having explicit next() methods, but I argue the current ArcGIS Pro implementation isn't very pythonic since the explicit next() methods don't add any special functionality beyond simply iterating.