How Can I Efficiently Interleave Two Lists in Python?

Optimal Interlacing of Lists in Python

When working with two lists, users often encounter the need to combine them in a specific manner. One such desired outcome is to interleave the elements of the lists in an alternating pattern. This poses the question of achieving this combination most effectively and Pythonically.

Conventional Approaches

A straightforward approach involves using a loop to iterate through the lists, appending elements from the first list at even indices and elements from the second list at odd indices. However, this method lacks elegance and efficiency.

The Pythonic Slice

A more concise and Pythonic method leverages slicing and list assignment. By creating a result list of the combined length of the input lists, we can slice the result list in strides of 2. The even-indexed elements are then assigned to the first list, and the odd-indexed elements are assigned to the second list.

Consider the example:

list1 = ['f', 'o', 'o']
list2 = ['hello', 'world']
result = [None]*(len(list1)+len(list2))
result[::2] = list1
result[1::2] = list2

The resulting 'result' list will be:

['f', 'hello', 'o', 'world', 'o']

This method is not only concise but also efficient, eliminating the need for loops and index manipulation. It demonstrates the power of Python's slicing capabilities for list manipulation.

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