> >>> [item for item in a if item in b] > [1, 2] > > That third line is a list comprehension. >>> a = [0, 1, 2] >>> b = [1, 2, 3] >>> [i for i in a if i in b] + [i for i in a + b if i not in a or i not in b] [1, 2, 0, 3] :)