我看到在这些递归函数中进行了很多迭代，而不是纯粹的递归。。。

所以对于那些连一个循环都不能遵守的人来说，这里有一个粗略的、完全不必要的完全递归的解决方案

def all_insert(x, e, i=0):
    return [x[0:i]+[e]+x[i:]] + all_insert(x,e,i+1) if i<len(x)+1 else []

def for_each(X, e):
    return all_insert(X[0], e) + for_each(X[1:],e) if X else []

def permute(x):
    return [x] if len(x) < 2 else for_each( permute(x[1:]) , x[0])


perms = permute([1,2,3])

如果用户希望在列表中保留所有排列，可以使用以下代码：

def get_permutations(nums, p_list=[], temp_items=[]):
    if not nums:
        return
    elif len(nums) == 1:
        new_items = temp_items+[nums[0]]
        p_list.append(new_items)
        return
    else:
        for i in range(len(nums)):
            temp_nums = nums[:i]+nums[i+1:]
            new_temp_items = temp_items + [nums[i]]
            get_permutations(temp_nums, p_list, new_temp_items)

nums = [1,2,3]
p_list = []

get_permutations(nums, p_list)

def permutations(head, tail=''):
    if len(head) == 0:
        print(tail)
    else:
        for i in range(len(head)):
            permutations(head[:i] + head[i+1:], tail + head[i])

称为：

permutations('abc')

如果有人喜欢这个丑陋的单行线（虽然只适用于字符串）：

def p(a):
    return a if len(a) == 1 else [[a[i], *j] for i in range(len(a)) for j in p(a[:i] + a[i + 1:])]

from __future__ import print_function

def perm(n):
    p = []
    for i in range(0,n+1):
        p.append(i)
    while True:
        for i in range(1,n+1):
            print(p[i], end=' ')
        print("")
        i = n - 1
        found = 0
        while (not found and i>0):
            if p[i]<p[i+1]:
                found = 1
            else:
                i = i - 1
        k = n
        while p[i]>p[k]:
            k = k - 1
        aux = p[i]
        p[i] = p[k]
        p[k] = aux
        for j in range(1,(n-i)/2+1):
            aux = p[i+j]
            p[i+j] = p[n-j+1]
            p[n-j+1] = aux
        if not found:
            break

perm(5)

def permutate(l):
    for i, x in enumerate(l):
        for y in l[i + 1:]:
            yield x, y


if __name__ == '__main__':
    print(list(permutate(list('abcd'))))
    print(list(permutate([1, 2, 3, 4])))

#[('a', 'b'), ('a', 'c'), ('a', 'd'), ('b', 'c'), ('b', 'd'), ('c', 'd')]
#[(1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 4), (3, 4)]