Any downsides to using `from __future__ import annotations` everywhere?

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From PEP 563, it seems like there should be slight performance gains, as it solves

type hints are executed at module import time, which is not computationally free.

So...could/should I include from __future__ import annotations in every file in my package, or are there any reasons it should be excluded from some files?

python-typing annotations python
1 Answers

TLDR: Some things will not work with from __future__ import annotations. Since a future version of Python will make postponed evaluation mandatory, code striving for forward compatibility should not rely on prompt evaluation in the first place.

Since from __future__ import annotations avoids the evaluation of type hints, anything that depends on evaluated type hints must explicitly evaluate type hints. This is usually not possible outside of top-level module or class scopes, unless locals are explicitly handled.

For example, functools.singledispatch cannot use type hints inside functions if annotation evaluation is postponed:

from __future__ import annotations
from typing import Type
from functools import singledispatch

def non_global_sdp(local_type: Type):
    @singledispatch
    def default(arg): print("default")

    @default.register
    def case_a(arg: local_type): print("case_a")

    return default

cases = non_global_sdp(int)  # NameError: name 'local_type' is not defined

The exact semantics of postponed evaluation of annotations and mandatory introduction version are still undecided. Of the current proposals the features of from __future__ import annotations are the most restrictive; any code that must work with future versions of Python should use from __future__ import annotations to avoid hidden dependencies on prompt evaluation.

__future__ — Future statement definitions (Python 3.11)

[1] from __future__ import annotations was previously scheduled to become mandatory in Python 3.10, but the Python Steering Council twice decided to delay the change (announcement for Python 3.10; announcement for Python 3.11). No final decision has been made yet. See also PEP 563 and PEP 649.

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