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208 changes: 195 additions & 13 deletions docs/spec/directives.rst
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -154,23 +154,205 @@ left undefined by the typing spec at this time.
Version and platform checking
-----------------------------

Type checkers are expected to understand simple version and platform
checks, e.g.::
Type checkers should understand code paths as definitely reachable or not reachable
due to comparison tests against these symbols:

import sys
* ``sys.version_info``
* ``sys.platform``
* ``sys.implementation.version``
* ``sys.implementation.name``

if sys.version_info >= (3, 12):
# Python 3.12+
else:
# Python 3.11 and lower
Type checkers should support combining these checks with:

if sys.platform == 'win32':
# Windows specific definitions
else:
# Posix specific definitions
* A ``not`` unary operator
* An ``and`` or ``or`` binary operator

Don't expect a checker to understand obfuscations like
``"".join(reversed(sys.platform)) == "xunil"``.
Type checkers are only required to support the fully qualified form
(e.g., ``sys.platform``). Support for aliases or import variants
(e.g., ``from sys import platform``) is not required, though type checkers may
choose to support them.

The comparison patterns for these variables are described in more detail in the
following paragraphs.

sys.version_info checks
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Type checkers should support the following comparison patterns:

* ``sys.version_info >= <2-tuple>``
* ``sys.version_info < <2-tuple>``

where ``<2-tuple>`` is a literal tuple of two literal integers.

Required support is limited to comparisons against literal two-element tuples.
Type checkers may choose to also support comparisons against three-element tuple
literals: ``sys.version_info >= <3-tuple>``. Type checkers are not expected to
support comparisons with named attributes of ``sys.version_info``.

.. code-block:: python
:caption: Examples of ``sys.version_info`` checks
:emphasize-lines: 2,4
import sys
if sys.version_info >= (3, 13):
# Python 3.13+
elif sys.version_info < (3, 11):
# Python 3.10 and lower
else:
# Python 3.11, 3.12
sys.platform checks
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Type checkers should support the following comparison patterns:

* ``sys.platform == <string literal>``
* ``sys.platform != <string literal>``
* ``sys.platform.startswith(<string literal>)``
* ``sys.platform in <literal tuple of string literals>``
* ``sys.platform in <literal set of string literals>``
* ``sys.platform in <literal list of string literals>``
* ``sys.platform not in <literal tuple of string literals>``
* ``sys.platform not in <literal set of string literals>``
* ``sys.platform not in <literal list of string literals>``

Common values: ``"linux"``, ``"darwin"``, ``"win32"``, ``"emscripten"``,
``"wasi"``

The membership checks ``in`` and ``not in`` only support simple containment
testing with a literal tuple, literal set, or literal list of literal strings.

.. code-block:: python
:caption: Examples of ``sys.platform`` checks
:emphasize-lines: 2,4,6,8
import sys
if sys.platform == "win32":
# Windows-specific definitions
elif sys.platform in ("linux", "darwin"):
# Platform-specific stubs for Linux and macOS
elif sys.platform.startswith("freebsd"):
# FreeBSD-specific stubs, including versions such as "freebsd8"
if sys.platform not in ["wasi", "emscripten"]:
# Stubs for platforms other than WASI and Emscripten
sys.implementation.name checks
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Type checkers should support these comparison patterns with
``sys.implementation.name``:

* ``sys.implementation.name == <string literal>``
* ``sys.implementation.name != <string literal>``
* ``sys.implementation.name in <literal tuple of string literals>``
* ``sys.implementation.name in <literal set of string literals>``
* ``sys.implementation.name in <literal list of string literals>``
* ``sys.implementation.name not in <literal tuple of string literals>``
* ``sys.implementation.name not in <literal set of string literals>``
* ``sys.implementation.name not in <literal list of string literals>``

Default value: ``"cpython"``, unless configured otherwise.

Common values: ``"cpython"``, ``"pypy"``, ``"micropython"``, ``"graalpy"``,
``"jython"``, ``"ironpython"``

.. code-block:: python
:caption: Examples of ``sys.implementation.name`` checks
:emphasize-lines: 2,4
import sys
if sys.implementation.name == "cpython":
# CPython-specific stub
if sys.implementation.name == "micropython":
# MicroPython-specific stub
sys.implementation.version checks
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The value of ``sys.implementation.version`` is a tuple, in the same format as
``sys.version_info``. However, it represents the version of the
Comment on lines +275 to +276

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The "same format" wording is a little too broad: on MicroPython, sys.implementation.version is a four-element tuple (major, minor, micro, releaselevel), while sys.version_info contains only three integers (docs). Not that important, but we could just say "in a similar format" maybe?

*Python implementation* rather than the version of the *Python language*. This has
a distinct meaning from the specific version of the Python language to which the
currently running interpreter conforms.

For CPython (``sys.implementation.name == "cpython"``) this is the same as
``sys.version_info``.
For other Python implementations the value of ``sys.implementation.version`` may
be specified in the type checker configuration or discovered at runtime.

Type checkers should support the following comparison patterns:
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* ``sys.implementation.version >= <2-tuple>``
* ``sys.implementation.version < <2-tuple>``

Comparison checks are only supported against the first two elements of the
implementation version tuple. Type checkers are not required to support comparisons
Comment on lines +291 to +292

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Could we use the clarified wording from the sys.version_info section here too: "Required support is limited to comparisons against literal two-element tuples"?

"Only supported" sounds like it prohibits optional three-element comparisons, which the optional-extensions section allows. "Against the first two elements" also leaves it unclear whether slicing or indexing is intended to be required.

against named attributes of ``sys.implementation.version``.

.. code-block:: python
:caption: Examples of ``sys.implementation.version`` checks
:emphasize-lines: 2,4
import sys
if sys.implementation.name == "pypy" and sys.implementation.version >= (7, 3):
# PyPy version 7.3 and above
elif sys.implementation.name == "micropython" and sys.implementation.version >= (1, 24):
# MicroPython version 1.24 and above
Required forms and optional extensions
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Type checkers must support the forms specified above as required. Support for additional
comparison patterns and syntax forms is optional. For example,
type checkers are not required to support the following forms:

.. code-block:: python
:caption: Examples of forms that type checkers are not required to support
:emphasize-lines: 4,6,8
import sys
from sys import platform
if "".join(reversed(sys.platform)) == "xunil":
# Comparison using a computed value
if platform == "linux":
# Comparison using an imported alias
if "win" not in sys.platform:
# Substring membership test against sys.platform
Configuration
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Type checkers must be able to retrieve the information from the Python
implementation's runtime environment, or provide configuration or CLI options
to specify target ``sys.version_info``, ``sys.platform``,
``sys.implementation.name`` and ``sys.implementation.version``.

============================== ======================== ============= =====================================
Symbol Suggested Format Example Suggested Default
============================== ======================== ============= =====================================
``sys.version_info`` string ``"major.minor"`` ``"3.11"`` The version of the Python interpreter
used to run the type checker.
``sys.platform`` lowercase string ``"linux"`` The platform of the Python interpreter
used to run the type checker.
``sys.implementation.name`` lowercase string ``"cpython"`` ``"cpython"`` unless configured
otherwise.
``sys.implementation.version`` string ``"major.minor"`` ``"3.14"`` On CPython, default to the value used
for ``sys.version_info``. On other
implementations, the value should be
provided in configuration or
otherwise inferred.
============================== ======================== ============= =====================================

The configuration options should allow users to specify the target values for these
symbols, so that type checkers can evaluate the version and platform checks
correctly. The exact mechanism and names for these configuration options are
implementation-specific and defined by each type checker.

.. _`deprecated`:

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