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Ah, I see! That makes a lot of sense, thank you for explaining. If I understand correctly, that means type-checking python as you described was an open problem
by lake_vincent 4y ago
Ah, I see! That makes a lot of sense, thank you for explaining.
If I understand correctly, that means type-checking python as you described was an open problem before, and this paper effectively proves it will never happen (ideally). They do this by establishing Turing completeness of type-hints, which are the main mechanisms for type-checking.
- an1sotropy 4y agoWell, I'm sure mypy and things like it will continue to grow, and the discipline of Python type hinting will probably become more popular, not less, because it offers new opportunities for catching bugs (but maybe not for optimizations, which I think is interesting*). So maybe it was an open question whether type checking would always terminate (now answered in the negative), but that shouldn't stop anyone from using type hints, considering their practical benefits. * https://doc.pypy.org/en/latest/faq.html#would-type-annotations-help-pypy-s-performance https://doc.pypy.org/en/latest/faq.html#would-type-annotatio...