>>> s = 'abcde'
>>> for i in [None] + range(-1, -len(s), -1):
... print s[:i]
...
abcde
abcd
abc
ab
a
>>> for i in range(0, len(s), 1) + [None]:
... print s[:i]
...
a
ab
abc
abcd
abcde
>>>
>>> s = 'abcde'
>>> for i in [None] + range(-1, -len(s), -1):
... print s[:i]
...
abcde
abcd
abc
ab
a
>>> for i in range(0, len(s), 1) + [None]:
... print s[:i]
...
a
ab
abc
abcd
abcde
>>>