How do I implement permutation algorithms?

How do I implement permutation algorithms in Python?

You can implement permutation algorithms using recursion or by using libraries like itertools. Which method would you prefer?

I'd like to see a recursive implementation.

Sure! Here's a simple recursive function to generate permutations:

def permute(nums):
    if len(nums) == 0:
        return []
    if len(nums) == 1:
        return [nums]
    perms = []
    for i in range(len(nums)):
        current = nums[i]
        remaining = nums[:i] + nums[i+1:]
        for p in permute(remaining):
            perms.append([current] + p)
    return perms

Can you explain how this function works?

Absolutely! The function permute takes a list of numbers. It checks if the list is empty or has one element, returning accordingly. For longer lists, it iterates through each element, fixing one element and recursively generating permutations of the remaining elements.

What if I want to generate permutations of a string instead?

You can use the same logic! Just pass a string to the function, and it will work the same way since strings are iterable in Python.