microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript

Enable type parameter lower-bound syntax

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Description

TypeScript Version: 2.1.1

Code

class Animal {}
class Cat extends Animal {}
class Kitten extends Cat{}

function foo<A super Kitten>(a: A) { /* */ }

Expected behavior:
The type parameter A has the type Kitten as lower-bound.

Actual behavior:
Compilation failure. The syntax is unsupported.

Discussion:
The upper-bound counterpart of the failed code works fine:

class Animal {}
class Cat extends Animal {}
class Kitten extends Cat{}

function foo<A extends Animal>(a: A) { /* */ }

People in issue #13337 have suggested to use

function foo <X extends Y, Y>(y: Y) { /* */ }

to lower-bound Y with X. But this does not cover the case where X is an actual type (instead of a type parameter).

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the proposed A super Kitten syntax and the discussion in issue #13337, since no implementation files or tests are identified here. Determine the language and type-checking changes required, then add coverage showing that lower-bound type parameters compile and behave as described.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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