[Python-3000] Fwd: Conventions for annotation consumers (was: Re: Draft pre-PEP: function annotations)

[Collin Winter]

On 8/15/06, Calvin Spealman <ironfroggy at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/15/06, Collin Winter <collinw at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 1) Static analysis tools (pychecker, optimising compilers, etc) must
>> be able to use the annotations
>
> As in any example given so far, the annotations would be instansiated
> within the function definition itself, which means the form 'def
> foo(a: Bar(baz))' is to be expected. This form could even be
> documented as the prefered way, as opposed to instansiating the
> annotation object before hand and simply using its name in the
> function definition. This leads to simple parsing by external tools,
> which would be able to deduce what bar is (because before that line
> there was an 'from bar import Bar'.

How exactly do they "deduce" what Bar is, just from the "from bar
import Bar" line? pychecker would have to import and compile the Bar
module first. What if being able to import bar depends on some import
hooks that some other module (imported before bar) installed? I guess
you'd have to follow the entire import graph just to make sure. Oh,
and you'd have to end up running the module being analysed in case
*it* installs some import hooks -- or maybe it defines Bar itself.

Your proposal isn't workable.

Collin Winter