They are not pointless if you run code through mypy, an optional static type checker for Python. Most Python code does not use annotations, but that's because a

They are not pointless if you run code through mypy, an optional static type checker for Python. Most Python code does not use annotations, but that's because annotations are a relatively new feature and because Python programmers are not used to using annotations. Maybe beginners should get in the habit of using annotations when a function only makes sense specific argument types.