microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript
Error on function return is less useful than it should be
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Go
- Stars
- 111k
- Forks
- 14.3k
- Avg merge
- 2d 4h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 132
Description
### 🔍 Search Terms
"contextual typing of function return values" "function return error in the wrong place"
### ✅ Viability Checklist
- [x] This wouldn't be a breaking change in existing TypeScript/JavaScript code
- [x] This wouldn't change the runtime behavior of existing JavaScript code
- [x] This could be implemented without emitting different JS based on the types of the expressions
- [x] This isn't a runtime feature (e.g. library functionality, non-ECMAScript syntax with JavaScript output, new syntax sugar for JS, etc.)
- [x] This isn't a request to add a new utility type: https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/wiki/No-New-Utility-Types
- [x] This feature would agree with the rest of our Design Goals: https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/wiki/TypeScript-Design-Goals
### ⭐ Suggestion
Often when writing a function where the return type should be known, errors appear overly complicated and far away from their source.
```ts
type Ret = {a: number};
type Fn = () => Ret;
const issue: Fn = () => {
// ^ it shows the error here: Type '() => { a: string; }' is not assignable to type '() => { a: number; }'.
return {a: "25"};
// ^ instead of here
};
// adding an explicit return type fixes it
const workaround1: Fn = (): Ret => {
return {a: "25"};
// ^ shows here: Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'.
};
// returning without a block body fixes it
const workaround2: Fn = () => ({a: "25"});
// ^ shows here: Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'.
// using a helper function fixes it
function inferRet(arg: NoInfer): T {
return arg;
}
const workaround3: Fn = () => {
return inferRet({a: "25"});
// ^ shows here: Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'.
};
```
Unfortunately, this would be a breaking change as it would cause some existing working code to now error, so it would have to be added under a compiler flag or wait for 7.0/8.0:
```ts
const breaking: Fn = () => {
return {a: 25, b: 56};
// ^ previously, there would be no error here.
// with this change: Object literal may only specify known properties, and 'b' does not exist in type '{ a: number; }'.
};
```
[Playground link](https://www.typescriptlang.org/play/?ts=6.0.2#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-krlLVGc1-F0ADScrCdABscP6eoROjAjgAbuJBLgRGkQNGLHNHtm0hNiPioNZbKiINVtcmdcZWeYDHj+AY0KEnAB5QgAKwg-AQe2ApDQaSg+DQguEeYCkAOU0Fz1ixiYacEkBIwHE12jnYm7kIUTGgmu+IQ20kElOLt8-jdJAqHsoQA)
### 📃 Motivating Example
```ts
interface App {
start: () => {
title: {
name: string,
},
},
}
export const app: App = {
start: () => {
return {
title: {
name: 25,
},
};
},
};
```
[Playground link](https://www.typescriptlang.org/play/?ts=6.0.2#code/JYOwLgpgTgZghgYwgAgIIAd3IN4ChkHIDOYcUYAXMgBQCUyAvAHw76HtjBgA2EVe7QYRBwAtn2JgooAOYAaNkIC+C9itxLcuCAA90Ae3LIE+kCWRxMVDFgat2JMpRr1m9ocigQwAVygh3D0JOHgkBII8RcSoAJgBWVQiCdSClAG5FZHV0oA)
Previously, the error would show as:
```
10 | start: () => {
~~~~~
Type '() => { title: { name: number; }; }' is not assignable to type '() => { title: { name: string; }; }'.
Call signature return types '{ title: { name: number; }; }' and '{ title: { name: string; }; }' are incompatible.
The types of 'title.name' are incompatible between these types.
Type 'number' is not assignable to type 'string'.(2322)
input.tsx(2, 5): The expected type comes from property 'start' which is declared here on type 'App'
```
With this change, the error will show as:
```
13 | name: 25,
~~~~
Type 'number' is not assignable to type 'string'.(2322)
input.tsx(2, 5): The expected type comes from property 'name' which is declared here on type '{ name: string; }'
```
The second one is clearly easier to read and fix
### 💻 Use Cases
1. What do you want to use this for?
Interfaces that define functions with return types
2. What shortcomings exist with current approaches?
workaround 1: Explicitly setting the return type is annoying, and shouldn't need to be done when typescript clearly knows what it should be.
workaround 2: Not using a block body is often not reasonable when computation needs to be done in the body of the function.
workaround 3: You shouldn't need to define a helper function for this
3. What workarounds are you using in the meantime?
Every time I define a function where the return type could be inferred, I always specify it manually to make the errors easier to read.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the two Playground examples to reproduce the current diagnostics and compare the reported locations and messages. Investigate how contextual return types are handled for block-bodied functions, then verify that errors move to the offending return expression without changing the documented excess-property behavior.
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
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100