Just something quick about one of my favourite upcoming Python 3.12 features, generic type parameter syntax!
Generics have been part of Python for almost 8 years. They were added when type hints themselves were introduced by PEP 484 in Python 3.5. Geez, it feels like it's been way less time than that 😅
Python 3.11
Since then we've been able to write functions and classes with type parameters:
from typing import Generic, TypeVar
T = TypeVar("T")
# although we've only been able to use parameterised
# `list` since Python 3.11
def first(elems: list[T]) -> T: ...
K = TypeVar("K")
V = TypeVar("V")
class Map(Generic[K, V]):
def insert(self, key: K, value: V) -> None: ...
def get(self, key: K) -> V | None: ...
Very nice, but I want to highlight two drawbacks to this in maintaining code clarity.
Function signatures are not self contained:
# imagine T, U and V are defined somewhere else
def some_func(param1: T, param2: U) -> V: ...
Any of T, U or V could be type parameters, but it is not immediately clear which, if any, are. Secondly, type variables can be reused:
T = TypeVar("T")
def func_one(t: T) -> T: ...
def func_two(t: T) -> T: ...
Which itself can be confusing, and is made worse by adding variance or constrains to type parameters, making them hazardous to reuse without careful inspection.
Python 3.12
Starting from the next Python release which includes PEP 695, we'll have a better way:
def first[T](elems: list[T]) -> T: ...
class Map[K, V]:
def insert(self, key: K, value: V) -> None: ...
def get(self, key: K) -> V | None: ...
🤗
Ah, so wonderful. First off, we no longer need to define type variables. But I think the function definition syntax change is the big win here, we keep the type parameters local (which we already had with class generics), reducing mental overhead when reading code.
Bonus
PEP 695 also includes a good improvement to defining type aliases.
from typing import TypeAlias
# Python 3.11
MyAlias: TypeAlias = int
# Python 3.12
type MyAlias = int
A useful property of the new type alias implementation is that it utilises lazy evaluation to allow aliases to refer to names that haven't been defined yet, including themselves.
# this recursive type alias works in 3.12
type RecrAlias = int | list[RecrAlias]
There's a lot more going on in PEP 695, so I'd definitely recommend giving it a read if you're interested in more type system goodies (like how constraints, bounds and variance inference work).