pymc-devs / pymc-devs/pytensor

Typing: More informative return typing for ops

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maintenance
Dominant language
Python
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644
Forks
208
Avg merge
2d 14h
Merged PRs (30d)
16

Description

Description

The return type of .graph.op.Op.__call__ is Union[Variable, List[Variable]]. However, some child classes (e.g. .tensor.basic.Alloc) only ever return a single output, in which case an output type of Variable would be more intuitive (aside from the case where return_list=True) as the union causes annoying issues with mypy as per seen in this PR.

I feel like something should be possible with typing.overload but can't really see how to implement.

However, for the case that return_list=True I think we could do the following:

from typing import Literal, overload

# -- snip --

    @overload
    def __call__(self, *inputs: Any, return_list: Literal[True] = True, **kwargs) -> List[Variable]:
        ...
    
    def __call__(self, *inputs: Any, **kwargs) -> Union[Variable, List[Variable]]:
        r"""Construct an `Apply` node using :meth:`Op.make_node` and return its outputs.

# -- snip --

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
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Research direction

Start with .graph.op.Op.call and the single-output behavior of .tensor.basic.Alloc, then review the linked PyMC PR and Python's typing.overload guidance. Define how return_list=True should be typed separately from the default call and how single-output child classes should expose Variable; confirm the result addresses the reported mypy problems.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
developer-experience
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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