How To Enforce Type Hints in Python?

...and make them more powerful.

When writing Python functions, type hints provide an incredible way to specify explicit information about:

• the expected types of function arguments, and

• their return type.

Yet, Python NEVER enforces them.

This means that despite having type hints, a function can still accept (or return) a conflicting type.

And Python will not raise any errors/warnings if there is a type mismatch.

To enforce type hints, use Typeguard.

It provides a decorator for type-checking of Python functions.

As a result, in case of conflicting types, an error is raised.

Enforcing type hints can provide an additional layer of type safety. One can catch type violations that could only be detected at run time.

Get started with Typeguard: Docs.

👉 Over to you: Why Python developers didn’t enforce type hints? Let me know your thoughts :)

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Find the code for my tips here: GitHub.

I like to explore, experiment and write about data science concepts and tools. You can read my articles on Medium. Also, you can connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter.