Lenient TypeVarTuple checking when number of dimensions is unknown
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Description
Currently this generates an error:
from typing import Any
class C[*Ts, S]:
pass
a = C[int, str]()
a = C[*tuple[Any, ...], str]() # Error
This is the output:
error: Incompatible types in assignment (expression has type "C[*tuple[Any, ...], str]", variable has type "C[int, str]")
However, this doesn't generate an error:
from typing import Any
class C[*Ts, S]:
pass
a = C[int, str]()
a = C[*tuple[Any, ...]]() # No error
I'd argue that the first example shouldn't generate an error either. One possible rule would be to allow this as long as some substitution of the *tuple[Any, ...] part would match the target type.
We could possibly also generalize the matching of unknown-length TypeVarTuple type arguments when the unknown-length part has a non-Any tuple item type. This could reduce apparent false positives. Example:
from typing import Any
class C[*Ts, S]:
pass
a = C[int, int]()
a = C[*tuple[int, ...]]() # No error?
This would only change the behavior of variadic generics. Variable-length tuples would continue to behave as they behave currently, i.e. tuple[int, ...] wouldn't be assignable to tuple[int, int]. The tuple behavior has been around for a very long time, so it doesn't make sense to change it, but variadic generics are a relatively new and untested feature.
The primary motivation is help with NumPy and libraries that provide multidimensional array-like types.
Proper subtype checks should continue to work as they work currently, since we can't safely simplify say C[int] | C[*tuple[Any, ...]].
cc @ilevkivskyi who I chatted about this recently
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 by running the two TypeVarTuple examples from the issue through mypy and compare their current diagnostics. Investigate the variadic-generic compatibility and subtype-checking paths, then add coverage for the proposed Any and non-Any unknown-length cases while preserving existing variable-length tuple behavior.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100