Formatting a list of text into columns

Question

I'm trying to output a list of string values into a 2 column format. The standard way of making a list of strings into "normal text" is by using the string.join method. However, it only takes 2 arguments so I can only make a single column using "\n". I thought trying to make a loop that would simply add a tab between columns would do it but the logic didn't work correctly.

I found an ActiveState page that has a fairly complicated way of doing it but it's from 4 years ago. Is there an easy way to do it nowadays?

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Edit Here is the list that I want to use.

skills_defs = ["ACM:Aircraft Mechanic", "BC:Body Combat", "BIO:Biology",
    "CBE:Combat Engineer", "CHM:Chemistry", "CMP:Computers", 
    "CRM:Combat Rifeman", "CVE:Civil Engineer", "DIS:Disguise",
    "ELC:Electronics","EQ:Equestrian", "FO:Forward Observer",
    "FOR:Forage", "FRG:Forgery", "FRM:Farming", "FSH:Fishing",
    "GEO:Geology", "GS:Gunsmith", "HW:Heavy Weapons", "IF:Indirect Fire",
    "INS:Instruction", "INT:Interrogation", "JP:Jet Pilot", "LB:Longbow",
    "LAP:Light Aircraft Pilot", "LCG:Large Caliber Gun", "LNG:Language",
    "LP:Lockpick", "MC:Melee Combat", "MCY:Motorcycle", "MEC:Mechanic",
    "MED:Medical", "MET:Meterology", "MNE:Mining Engineer",
    "MTL:Metallurgy", "MTN:Mountaineering", "NWH:Nuclear Warhead",
    "PAR:Parachute", "PST:Pistol", "RCN:Recon", "RWP:Rotary Wing Pilot",
    "SBH:Small Boat Handling","SCD:Scuba Diving", "SCR:Scrounging",
    "SWM:Swimming", "TW:Thrown Weapon", "TVD:Tracked Vehicle Driver",
    "WVD:Wheeled Vehicle Driver"]

I just want to output this list into a simple, 2 column format to reduce space. Ideally there should be a standard amount of space between the columns but I can work with it.

ACM:Aircraft Mechanic        BC:Body Combat 
BIO:Biology         CBE:Combat Engineer 
CHM:Chemistry       CMP:Computers
CRM:Combat Rifeman      CVE:Civil Engineer 
DIS:Disguise            ELC:Electronics 
EQ:Equestrian           FO:Forward Observer
FOR:Forage          FRG:Forgery 
FRM:Farming             FSH:Fishing
GEO:Geology             GS:Gunsmith 
HW:Heavy Weapons        IF:Indirect Fire
INS:Instruction             INT:Interrogation 
JP:Jet Pilot            LB:Longbow
 LAP:Light Aircraft Pilot       LCG:Large Caliber Gun 
LNG:Language            LP:Lockpick 
MC:Melee Combat         MCY:Motorcycle 
MEC:Mechanic            MED:Medical 
MET:Meterology      MNE:Mining Engineer
MTL:Metallurgy      MTN:Mountaineering 
NWH:Nuclear Warhead     PAR:Parachute 
PST:Pistol          RCN:Recon 
RWP:Rotary Wing Pilot       SBH:Small Boat Handling 
SCD:Scuba Diving        SCR:Scrounging
SWM:Swimming        TW:Thrown Weapon 
TVD:Tracked Vehicle Driver  WVD:Wheeled Vehicle Driver

Answer 1

Two columns, separated by tabs, joined into lines. Look in itertools for iterator equivalents, to achieve a space-efficient solution.

import string
def fmtpairs(mylist):
    pairs = zip(mylist[::2],mylist[1::2])
    return '\n'.join('\t'.join(i) for i in pairs)

print fmtpairs(list(string.ascii_uppercase))

A   B
C   D
E   F
G   H
I   J
...

Oops... got caught by S.Lott (thank you).

A more general solution, handles any number of columns and odd lists. Slightly modified from S.lott, using generators to save space.

def fmtcols(mylist, cols):
    lines = ("\t".join(mylist[i:i+cols]) for i in xrange(0,len(mylist),cols))
    return '\n'.join(lines)