Allow static members in abstract classes to reference type parameters

Search Terms

abstract generic class static type parameter

Suggestion

It has been previously concluded in #24018 that referencing class type parameters in the static side is problematic unless that class is meant to be extended. Well, abstract classes are meant to be extended, so it makes sense to allow type parameters to be used?

To quote @andy-ms in #24018:

Without inheritance that wouldn't make much sense:

class Super<T> {
    static m(x: T): void;
}
Super.m(); // What's `T`?

This is a valid point. But with a solution for abstract static members from #34516, this could be refactored like so:

abstract class Super<T> {
    abstract static m(x: T): void;
}

class A extends Super<number> {
    static m(x) {
        console.log(x * 42);
    }
}

class B extends Super<string> {
    static m(x) {
        console.log(x + ' World!');
    }
}

A.m(2);
B.m('Hello');

Use Cases

Pretty much everywhere that instance side types are related to static side types and where instance methods depend on static properties.

Examples

As an example I'll give my personal use case. I have a class with a static defaults property and instances merge it with a constructor argument of the same type but partial. Then, the resulting object is stored in an instance property:

abstract class Base<T> {
    static defaults: T
    config: T

    constructor(options: Partial<T>) {
        this.config = Object.assign({}, (this.constructor as typeof Base).defaults, options);
    }
}

interface Options {
    a: string
    b: number
}

class A extends Base<Options> {
  static defaults = {
      a: 42,    // Type '42' is not assignable to type 'string'.
      b: 'oops' // Type '"oops"' is not assignable to type 'number'.
  };
}

let inst = new A({
    a: 'bar', // OK
    b: 'baz'  // Type '"baz"' is not assignable to type 'number'.
});

inst.config.a = 12; // Type '12' is not assignable to type 'string'.

Checklist

My suggestion meets these guidelines:

• This wouldn't be a breaking change in existing TypeScript/JavaScript code
• This wouldn't change the runtime behavior of existing JavaScript code
• This could be implemented without emitting different JS based on the types of the expressions
• This isn't a runtime feature (e.g. library functionality, non-ECMAScript syntax with JavaScript output, etc.)
• This feature would agree with the rest of TypeScript's Design Goals.

Inizia leggendo la discussione in #24018 e la proposta correlata sui membri statici astratti in #34516. Non sono indicati file del repository né test, quindi individua i percorsi di controllo dei tipi per i membri statici e le classi generiche. Il lavoro sarà considerato completato quando le classi generiche astratte potranno usare i propri parametri di tipo sul lato statico con un controllo dei tipi appropriato e una copertura di regressione.