Generate all possible sequential strings from list using Python 3

Question

I have a list:

["toaster", "oven", "door"]  

I need to get ALL the possible sequential words that can be created. The output should look like this:

["toaster", "toaster oven", "toaster oven door", "oven", "oven door", "door"]

What is the most efficient way to get this list? I've looked at itertools.combinations() and a few other suggestions found on Stack Overflow, but nothing that would produce this exact result.

For example, the above list is not a powerset, because only words adjacent to each other in the input list should be used. A powerset would combine toaster and door into toaster door, but those two words are not adjacent.

Answer 1

You can do it like this:

words = ["toaster", "oven", "door"]  

length = len(words)
out = []
for start in range(length):
    for end in range (start+1, length+1):
        out.append(' '.join(words[start:end]))

print(out)

# ['toaster', 'toaster oven', 'toaster oven door', 'oven', 'oven door', 'door']

You just need to determine the first and last word to use.

You could also use a list comprehension:

[' '.join(words[start:end]) for start in range(length) for end in range(start+1, length+1)]

#['toaster', 'toaster oven', 'toaster oven door', 'oven', 'oven door', 'door']