It's time to add type hints.
And.
Learn some interesting lessons.
Here's the interesting problem:
some_data = {name: source[name] for name in the_names}
the_object = SomeClass(**some_data)
While valid, this concerns mypy.
The point here is to have a flexible source of data, source. Perhaps
this is a spreadsheet row, or a complex JSON/YAML-formatted document
with optional or irrelevant fields. The short list of relevant names
is in the_names. Ideally, this list of names matches the keyword args
of SomeClass.
This gives mypy fits because there's no way to match the
dictionary with the object's parameters.
We have two paths forward.
- Eliminate the intermediate dictionary. Use SomeClass(x=source['x'], y=source['y'], ... etc.)
- Consider using a TypedDict for the intermediate dictionary. But. Then the dictionary's types must be kept in sync with the SomeClass definition, which may be a little crazy.
Item 2 isn't as crazy as it sounds, though. The SomeClass definition
has a **kwargs option, allowing extra attributes to be set. This is,
perhaps also crazy. But, the framework needs to drag around extra
attributes for the application's benefit.
A possibility is to do away with **kwargs, and replace it with other:
Dict[Any, Any]. This cuts down on the expressivity of the framework.
Now we support SomeClass.app_name. This change would mean we'd have
SomeClass.other['app_name']. While possibly better for mypy, I
don't think it's ideal for users.
I can also rework SomeClass to use __getattribute__() to look into
self.other for extra attribute names.
I'm very happy to have the rigorous static check. The rethinking is
helpful.
("Wait," you say. "You didn't provide the recommended path forward."
Correct. I'll update.)