[Python-ideas] from __future__ import function_annotations

[Collin Winter]

On 4/11/07, Tony Lownds <tony at pagedna.com> wrote:
> Function annotations PEP is accepted and code has been checked in to
> p3yk. I don't think there would be much support for
> the syntax in 2.6, but I could be wrong. A more palatable
> compatibility strategy may be to introduce a decorator that sets
> function.__annotations__, so that these two function definitions
> would have equivalent annotations:
>
>  >>> @annotate(int, int, returns=int)
> ... def gcd1(m, n):
> ...   etc
>
>  >>> def gcd2(m: int, n: int) -> int:
> ...   etc
>
> It's easier for a decorator to be compatible with run-time semantics,
> and more likely to avoid syntax questions, than embedding
> the annotattions in docstrings. Source code conversion (2to3) could
> change the @annotate decorator form to the in-line function
> form. Tools could be written to use either annotation set.
>
> What do y'all think?

Speaking only to the part about 2to3, that sort of conversion would be
a pain in the ass to write. Even if the @annotate decorator were
keyword-args only (allowing positional args complicates the
implementation more than you would expect), it would still probably be
quicker/easier/more accurate just to port the 3.0 annotations
implementation to 2.6.

Collin Winter