Is there a zip-like function that pads to longest length?

Question

In Python 3 you can use itertools.zip_longest

>>> list(itertools.zip_longest(a, b, c))
[('a1', 'b1', 'c1'), (None, 'b2', 'c2'), (None, 'b3', None)]

You can pad with a different value than None by using the fillvalue parameter:

>>> list(itertools.zip_longest(a, b, c, fillvalue='foo'))
[('a1', 'b1', 'c1'), ('foo', 'b2', 'c2'), ('foo', 'b3', 'foo')]

With Python 2 you can either use itertools.izip_longest (Python 2.6+), or you can use map with None. It is a little known feature of map (but map changed in Python 3.x, so this only works in Python 2.x).

>>> map(None, a, b, c)
[('a1', 'b1', 'c1'), (None, 'b2', 'c2'), (None, 'b3', None)]

For Python 2.6x use itertools module's izip_longest.

For Python 3 use zip_longest instead (no leading i).

>>> list(itertools.izip_longest(a, b, c))
[('a1', 'b1', 'c1'), (None, 'b2', 'c2'), (None, 'b3', None)]

non itertools Python 3 solution:

def zip_longest(*lists):
    def g(l):
        for item in l:
            yield item
        while True:
            yield None
    gens = [g(l) for l in lists]    
    for _ in range(max(map(len, lists))):
        yield tuple(next(g) for g in gens)

non itertools My Python 2 solution:

if len(list1) < len(list2):
    list1.extend([None] * (len(list2) - len(list1)))
else:
    list2.extend([None] * (len(list1) - len(list2)))

In addition to the accepted answer, if you're working with iterables that might be different lengths but shouldn't be, it's recommended to pass strict=True to zip() (supported since Python 3.10).

To quote the documentation:

zip() is often used in cases where the iterables are assumed to be of equal length. In such cases, it’s recommended to use the strict=True option. Its output is the same as regular zip():

>>> list(zip(('a', 'b', 'c'), (1, 2, 3), strict=True))
[('a', 1), ('b', 2), ('c', 3)]

Unlike the default behavior, it checks that the lengths of iterables are identical, raising a ValueError if they aren’t:

>>> list(zip(range(3), ['fee', 'fi', 'fo', 'fum'], strict=True))
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
ValueError: zip() argument 2 is longer than argument 1

Without the strict=True argument, any bug that results in iterables of different lengths will be silenced, possibly manifesting as a hard-to-find bug in another part of the program.