def to_str(ss): if type(ss) in (int,str,unicode): value_str.append(ss) elif type(ss) is dict: for i in ss: to_str(ss[i]) elif type(ss) is list: for i in ss: to_str(i) global value_str value_str=[] a=[1,[2],3,[4,[5,{6:9}]]] to_str(a) print value_str >>[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9]