python / python/typeshed

Overly broad type inference when using zip(*x) to tranpose 2d iterable

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Description

Description:

When transposing a 2d iterable x: Iterable[Iterable[T]] using zip(*x), I've noticed typeshed's type annotations result in the return type being inferred as zip[tuple[Any, ...]] rather than the expected zip[tuple[T, ...]]. It would be nice if builtins.py^1 had an overload for this use case.

Expected behavior

When x has type Iterable[Iterable[T]], the expression zip(*x) should be inferred as zip[tuple[T, ...]], preserving the element type information through the transpose operation.

Actual behavior

The expression zip(*x) is inferred as zip[tuple[Any, ...]].

Possible solution

Add the following overloads to zip:

Pre 3.10:

        @overload
        def __new__(
            cls,
            *iterables: Iterable[_T1],
        ) -> zip[tuple[_T1, ...]]: ...

3.10 or later:

        @overload
        def __new__(
            cls,
            *iterables: Iterable[_T1],
            *,
            strict: bool = ...
        ) -> zip[tuple[_T1, ...]]: ...

While I have seen zip(*x) in the wild, I have not seen zip(a,b,c,*x) in any environment before, so I don't think it's necessary to write an overload for that edge case.

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Research direction

Open stdlib/builtins.pyi at the linked zip definition and compare the existing overloads with the proposed pre-3.10 and 3.10+ signatures. Confirm that zip(*x) for Iterable[Iterable[T]] is inferred as zip[tuple[T, ...]] rather than zip[tuple[Any, ...]], while preserving strict handling.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
58/100

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