Allow subclassing without supertyping
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Description
This issue comes from python/mypy#1237. I'll try to make a summary of the discussion here
Some one reported an issue with an artificial example (https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/1237#issue-136162181):
class Foo:
def factory(self) -> str:
return 'Hello'
class Bar(Foo):
def factory(self) -> int:
return 10
and then with the following stub files (https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/1237#issuecomment-188710925):
class QPixmap(QPaintDevice):
def swap(self, other: 'QPixmap') -> None: ...
class QBitmap(QPixmap):
def swap(self, other: 'QBitmap') -> None: ...
Which mypy currently reports as erroneous: Argument 1 of "swap" incompatible with supertype "QPixmap"
These were initially was argued to be a correct error because they violate Liskov Substitution Principle (the same case by a change of return type, the second is a covariant argument change). The problem in this scenario is that the actual classes are not meant to be substituted (the first example is actually a wrapper for a non-virtual C++ function so they're not substitutable, and the second aren't supposed to be mixed together, just reuse part of the code). (see https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/1237#issuecomment-189490903)
There was also a suggestion that allow covariant args explicitly (in the same way that Eiffel allows it and adds a runtime check) with a decorator
class QBitmap(QPixmap):
@covariant_args
def swap(self, other: 'QBitmap') -> None: ...
My proposal instead was add what some dialects of Eiffel call "non-conforming inheritance" ("conforms" is the Eiffel word for what PEP-483 calls "is-consistent-with"). It is essentially a mechanism to use subclassing just as a way to get the implementation from the superclass without creating a subtyping relation between them. See https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/1237#issuecomment-231199419 for a detailed explanation.
The proposal is to haven Implementation in typing so you can write:
class QBitmap(Implementation[QPixmap]):
def swap(self, other: 'QBitmap') -> None: ...
which just defines a QBitmap class with all the mothods copied from QPixmap, but without making one a subtype of the other. In runtime we can just make Implementation[QPixmap] == QPixmap
Contributor guide
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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 reading the linked mypy#1237 discussion and the referenced explanation of non-conforming inheritance. Compare the proposed Implementation[QPixmap] behavior with the existing subtype and method-override rules. The work is done only when the semantics, runtime behavior, and typing rules are agreed and covered by the project's implementation and tests.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 20/100