# permutate.py

# permutate.py
def perm(z):
    if type(z) == type(''):
        z=list(z)
    sz = len(z)
    if sz <= 1:
        return [z]
    return [p[:i]+[z[0]]+p[i:] for i in range(sz) for p in perm(z[1:])]

print perm('abcd')
print
print perm([1,2,3,4])