> The code which raises TypeError does not know whether it was called internally by dict or set method or explicitly by hash

It's true, but I don't think it would be too hard to preserve some of the context in some of those common cases. In that bug report, I suggested adding an optional parameter for the format string used to generate the error message to PyObject_Hash and PyObject_HashNotImplemented (but I haven't yet tried to sketch out a full code change).

That doesn't fully cover the case where hash calls hash recursively, and obviously we wouldn't want to handle that in a way that potentially mucks with the performance of hash functions.

> do any existing built in error message have links in them?

I don't think so, which is maybe a reason to avoid the inconsistency. I don't know whether that's the result of some intentional decision. I do think it can be useful to have more direct links to documentation, though.

> at least add "unhashable" to the glossary -- after all, both "mutable" and "immutable" are in there.

I think that's reasonable.

On Mon, Sep 28, 2020 at 11:41 AM Christopher Barker <pythonchb@gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Sep 28, 2020 at 6:34 AM Samuel Freilich via Python-ideas <python-ideas@python.org> wrote:
The message does not include:

* The word "hashable" verbatim, which appears in the glossary

That's a pretty good entry that does talk about the importance of hashability in dicts and sets. So making it easier to find might be enough to help here.

So +1 on adding that link to the error message (if, in fact, links in error messages are on the table at all -- do any existing built in error message have links in them?

and/or at least add "unhashable" to the glossary -- after all, both "mutable" and "immutable" are in there.

-CHB







 
* A suggestion of what to do instead

For example:
TypeError: dict keys must be hashable (https://docs.python.org/glossary.html#term-hashable), 'list' is not. Consider using a primitive type (e.g. int, str) or immutable sequence (e.g. tuple, frozenset).

(That could be too much stuff, my point is I think there's room for improvement over "unhashable type: 'list'".)

I filed a bug about this (https://bugs.python.org/issue41114), but it was closed by a core contributor, who suggested discussing that on this list instead. While it's true that you can Google the error message and find the relevant information, I think the error message text would be worth improving.

Peace,
-Sam
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