(python2.7)
$ ipython In [1]: from itertools import combinations, permutations In [2]: arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'] In [3]: list(permutations(arr)) Out[3]: [('a', 'b', 'c', 'd'), ('a', 'b', 'd', 'c'), ('a', 'c', 'b', 'd'), ('a', 'c', 'd', 'b'), ('a', 'd', 'b', 'c'), ('a', 'd', 'c', 'b'), ('b', 'a', 'c', 'd'), ('b', 'a', 'd', 'c'), ('b', 'c', 'a', 'd'), ('b', 'c', 'd', 'a'), ('b', 'd', 'a', 'c'), ('b', 'd', 'c', 'a'), ('c', 'a', 'b', 'd'), ('c', 'a', 'd', 'b'), ('c', 'b', 'a', 'd'), ('c', 'b', 'd', 'a'), ('c', 'd', 'a', 'b'), ('c', 'd', 'b', 'a'), ('d', 'a', 'b', 'c'), ('d', 'a', 'c', 'b'), ('d', 'b', 'a', 'c'), ('d', 'b', 'c', 'a'), ('d', 'c', 'a', 'b'), ('d', 'c', 'b', 'a')] In [4]: list(combinations(arr, 2)) Out[4]: [('a', 'b'), ('a', 'c'), ('a', 'd'), ('b', 'c'), ('b', 'd'), ('c', 'd')]