python / python/mypy

Narrowing argument types based on overload variants

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feature topic-overloads
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Feature

Currently mypy cannot narrow down argument types in a function implementation based on function's overload variants. The following code

@overload
def f(x: None, y: None) -> None:...

@overload
def f(x: str, y: int) -> int:...

def f(x: Optional[str], y: Optional[int]) -> Optional[int]:
    if x is not None:
        return len(x) + y # error: Unsupported operand types for + ("int" and "None")
    else:
        return None

results in a Unsupported operand types for + ("int" and "None")" error. Despite of the fact that f() can be called only with either (None, None) or (str, int) which is specified by the respective overloads, mypy cannot infer that if the first argument is not None, then the other argument also shouldn't be None.

Here is my use case where I find this inference would be helpful:

class A:
    pass

class B:
    pass

class C:
    pass

class D:
    pass

@overload
def f(x: A) -> C:...

@overload
def f(x: B) -> D:...

def f(x: Union[A, B]) -> Union[C, D]:
    if isinstance(x, A):
        return C()
    else:
        return D()

@overload
def g(x: A, func: Callable[[C], bool]) -> None:...

@overload
def g(x: B, func: Callable[[D], bool]) -> None:...

def g(x: Union[A, B], func: Union[Callable[[C], bool], Callable[[D], bool]]) -> None:
    obj = f(x)
    func(obj) # error: Argument 1 has incompatible type "Union[C, D]"; expected "C"

Without being able to infer that when x is an instance of A, func should be an instance of Callable[[C], bool] (which is specified by the overload variants), mypy results in the following error:

test.py:37: error: Argument 1 has incompatible type "Union[C, D]"; expected "C"
test.py:37: error: Argument 1 has incompatible type "Union[C, D]"; expected "D"

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 reproducing the issue with the overload examples in the report and inspect how mypy handles overload variants, argument narrowing, and implementation-body checking. Done means the shown implementations no longer report the incompatible-operand and incompatible-call errors while preserving the declared overload behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
compilers, devtools
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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