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I have two ranges of values, one from 0 to 20 and the other from 0 to 80. I want to combine these into a list of "all possible" {x, y} coordinates that I can then plot later on. So the final list of points would be ~1700 long, consisting of:

{{0,0}, {0,1}, {0,2},..., {0,80}, {1,0}, {1,2}, {1,3},..., {1,80}, {2,0},..., {20, 80}}

I've seen things like Riffle and Partition thrown around but they're not quite what I'm looking for I think.

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    $\begingroup$ This is the Cartesian or outer product. $\endgroup$
    – Mechanical snail
    Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 7:38

3 Answers 3

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The best aproach uses Tuples :

Tuples[{Range[0, 80], Range[0, 20]}] // Short 

{{0, 0}, {0, 1}, {0, 2}, {0, 3}, <<1693>>, {80, 17}, {80, 18}, {80, 19}, {80, 20}}

or a bit more briefly :

Tuples[ Range @@@ {{0, 80}, {0, 20}}]

Array provides a different way : 

Sequence @@@ Array[{#1, #2} &, {81, 21}, 0]
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  • $\begingroup$ Haha, I seriously just figured it the second before I hit refresh to see if there were any responses before I deleted this. And that's exactly what I typed! Thanks anyway. :P $\endgroup$
    – SixtySuit
    Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 2:46
  • $\begingroup$ @SixtySuit Oh, really ? Take this comparison into account : mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/4748/… $\endgroup$
    – Artes
    Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 9:42
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    $\begingroup$ One can simplify the last method a little: Sequence @@@ Array[ List , {81, 21}, 0] $\endgroup$
    – evanb
    Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 14:04
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Shorter versions of Artes' methods:

Tuples @ Range[0, {80, 20}]

Join @@ Array[List, {81, 21}, 0]

Related methods that may be of use:

a = {1, 2, 3, 4};
b = {q, r, s};

Distribute[{a, b}, List]

{{1, q}, {1, r}, {1, s}, {2, q}, {2, r}, {2, s}, {3, q},
 {3, r}, {3, s}, {4, q}, {4, r}, {4, s}}

Inner[f, List /@ a, {b}, g]

{{g[f[1, q]], g[f[1, r]], g[f[1, s]]}, {g[f[2, q]], g[f[2, r]], 
  g[f[2, s]]}, {g[f[3, q]], g[f[3, r]], g[f[3, s]]}, {g[f[4, q]], 
  g[f[4, r]], g[f[4, s]]}}

Outer[f, a, b]

{{f[1, q], f[1, r], f[1, s]}, {f[2, q], f[2, r], f[2, s]}, {f[3, q], 
  f[3, r], f[3, s]}, {f[4, q], f[4, r], f[4, s]}}

Notice the different levels preserved and opportunities to apply custom functions in each case. All methods shown have a place.

Also be familiar with the syntax of Table which is closely related to Do, Sum, Product, etc.

Table[{i, j}, {i, a}, {j, b}]

{{{1, q}, {1, r}, {1, s}}, {{2, q}, {2, r}, {2, s}}, {{3, q},
  {3, r}, {3, s}}, {{4, q}, {4, r}, {4, s}}}

Product[i + j, {i, a}, {j, b}]

(1 + q) (2 + q) (3 + q) (4 + q) (1 + r) (2 + r) (3 + r) (4 + r) (1 + s) (2 + s) (3 + s) (4 + s)

Also related is:

KroneckerProduct[a, b]

{{q, r, s}, {2 q, 2 r, 2 s}, {3 q, 3 r, 3 s}, {4 q, 4 r, 4 s}}
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A more general function is Outer

 tuples = Outer[ List, Range[0, 80], Range[0, 20]]

Depending on how you want to use it you might want to Flatten the output

 Flatten[ tuples, 1]
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