>>> L1 = ['a', 'b', 'c'] >>> L2 = [1, 2, 3] >>> zip(L1, L2) [('a', 1), ('b', 2), ('c', 3)] >>> map(L1, L2) Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in ? TypeError: 'list' object is not callable >>> map(None, L1, L2) [('a', 1), ('b', 2), ('c', 3)] >>> dict(zip(L1, L2)) {'a': 1, 'c': 3, 'b': 2} >>> dict(map(None, L1, L2)) {'a': 1, 'c': 3, 'b': 2} >>> L3 = [] >>> zip(L1, L3) [] >>> map(L1, L3) [] >>> map(None, L1, L3) [('a', None), ('b', None), ('c', None)] >>> dict(zip(L1, L3)) {} >>> dict(map(None, L1, L3)) {'a': None, 'c': None, 'b': None} >>> def fun(A, B): ... if B == None: B = '' ... return A, B ... map(fun, L1, L2) [('a', 1), ('b', 2), ('c', 3) >>> map(fun, L1, L3) [('a', ''), ('b', ''), ('c', '')] >>> dict(map(fun, L1, L3)) {'a': '', 'c': '', 'b': ''}