opposite of dict.items()

[Peter Otten]

Raymond Hettinger wrote:

> If you're using Py2.3, then the itertools way is a bit nicer:
> 
>>>> dict(itertools.izip(range(3), "abc"))
> {0: 'a', 1: 'b', 2: 'c'}

>>> dict(izip(irange(3), "abc"))
{0: 'a', 1: 'b', 2: 'c'}

If I could use the above in Py2.4, it would be even nicer, namely:

- convert itertools to builtins
- add irange(), perhaps as an alias for xrange() like file/open

That would remove the slant towards the list prcessing functions and
encourage lazy people like me to always choose the best solution :-)

Peter