这里有一个算法，它在不创建新的中间列表的情况下处理列表，类似于Ber在https://stackoverflow.com/a/108651/184528.

def permute(xs, low=0):
    if low + 1 >= len(xs):
        yield xs
    else:
        for p in permute(xs, low + 1):
            yield p        
        for i in range(low + 1, len(xs)):        
            xs[low], xs[i] = xs[i], xs[low]
            for p in permute(xs, low + 1):
                yield p        
            xs[low], xs[i] = xs[i], xs[low]

for p in permute([1, 2, 3, 4]):
    print p

您可以在这里亲自尝试代码：http://repl.it/J9v

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')

在我看来，一个很明显的方式可能是：

def permutList(l):
    if not l:
            return [[]]
    res = []
    for e in l:
            temp = l[:]
            temp.remove(e)
            res.extend([[e] + r for r in permutList(temp)])

    return res

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])

对于Python 2.6及以上版本：

import itertools
itertools.permutations([1, 2, 3])

这将作为生成器返回。使用列表（排列（xs））作为列表返回。

from typing import List
import time, random

def measure_time(func):
    def wrapper_time(*args, **kwargs):
        start_time = time.perf_counter()
        res = func(*args, **kwargs)
        end_time = time.perf_counter()
        return res, end_time - start_time

    return wrapper_time


class Solution:
    def permute(self, nums: List[int], method: int = 1) -> List[List[int]]:
        perms = []
        perm = []
        if method == 1:
            _, time_perm = self._permute_recur(nums, 0, len(nums) - 1, perms)
        elif method == 2:
            _, time_perm = self._permute_recur_agian(nums, perm, perms)
            print(perm)
        return perms, time_perm

    @measure_time
    def _permute_recur(self, nums: List[int], l: int, r: int, perms: List[List[int]]):
        # base case
        if l == r:
            perms.append(nums.copy())

        for i in range(l, r + 1):
            nums[l], nums[i] = nums[i], nums[l]
            self._permute_recur(nums, l + 1, r , perms)
            nums[l], nums[i] = nums[i], nums[l]

    @measure_time
    def _permute_recur_agian(self, nums: List[int], perm: List[int], perms_list: List[List[int]]):
        """
        The idea is similar to nestedForLoops visualized as a recursion tree.
        """
        if nums:
            for i in range(len(nums)):
                # perm.append(nums[i])  mistake, perm will be filled with all nums's elements.
                # Method1 perm_copy = copy.deepcopy(perm)
                # Method2 add in the parameter list using + (not in place)
                # caveat: list.append is in-place , which is useful for operating on global element perms_list
                # Note that:
                # perms_list pass by reference. shallow copy
                # perm + [nums[i]] pass by value instead of reference.
                self._permute_recur_agian(nums[:i] + nums[i+1:], perm + [nums[i]], perms_list)
        else:
            # Arrive at the last loop, i.e. leaf of the recursion tree.
            perms_list.append(perm)



if __name__ == "__main__":
    array = [random.randint(-10, 10) for _ in range(3)]
    sol = Solution()
    # perms, time_perm = sol.permute(array, 1)
    perms2, time_perm2 = sol.permute(array, 2)
    print(perms2)
    # print(perms, perms2)
    # print(time_perm, time_perm2)
```