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cmd/compile: missing return value for undefined type mentions <T> #58742

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dominikh opened this issue Feb 26, 2023 · 8 comments
Closed

cmd/compile: missing return value for undefined type mentions <T> #58742

dominikh opened this issue Feb 26, 2023 · 8 comments
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compiler/runtime Issues related to the Go compiler and/or runtime. FrozenDueToAge help wanted NeedsInvestigation Someone must examine and confirm this is a valid issue and not a duplicate of an existing one.
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@dominikh
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What version of Go are you using (go version)?

$ go version
go version devel go1.21-e7201cfa9f Sat Feb 25 20:14:38 2023 +0000 linux/amd64

Does this issue reproduce with the latest release?

Yes

What did you do?

package main

func foo() UnknownType {
	return
}

What did you expect to see?

A compile error that doesn't mention <T>

What did you see instead?

$ go build foo.go
# command-line-arguments
./foo.go:3:12: undefined: UnknownType
./foo.go:4:2: not enough return values
	have ()
	want (<T>)
@gopherbot gopherbot added the compiler/runtime Issues related to the Go compiler and/or runtime. label Feb 26, 2023
@ianlancetaylor ianlancetaylor added the NeedsInvestigation Someone must examine and confirm this is a valid issue and not a duplicate of an existing one. label Feb 26, 2023
@ianlancetaylor ianlancetaylor added this to the Backlog milestone Feb 26, 2023
@ianlancetaylor
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CC @griesemer

@cuonglm
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cuonglm commented Feb 27, 2023

Seems to be a regression in new type checker, go1.17 only reports first error.

@gopherbot
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Change https://go.dev/cl/471438 mentions this issue: go/types, types2: avoid errors for invalid type in return statement

@griesemer
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Note that there are two separate, unrelated errors, and the compiler is correct to report both of them. I don't consider this a regression. (The 2nd error is not caused by the 1st one, i.e., it's not a follow-on error).

The report is on the printing of <T> which perhaps can be improved.

@griesemer
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@dominikh As mentioned above, I believe the compiler correctly reports two errors here, the issue is just the "spelling" of the <T>. For implementation reasons we don't have a good name for UnknownType when we produce the 2nd error, and - after looking into it a bit - it seems it would require quite a bit of plumbing to get the proper name to the place which reports the error. That's probably not justified just for this case, as it's not a common situation, I think.

Q: Do you have anything specific in mind about what else you'd like to see reported in this case? The <T> is a deliberate placeholder for a type about which we don't know more.

I am inclined to not do anything here. Thoughts?

@ianlancetaylor
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If we can't do better, I think that at least <unknownType> would be better than <T>.

@dominikh
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dominikh commented Mar 3, 2023

As mentioned above, I believe the compiler correctly reports two errors here, the issue is just the "spelling" of the <T>.

Agreed.

after looking into it a bit - it seems it would require quite a bit of plumbing to get the proper name to the place which reports the error.

That is unfortunate.

Q: Do you have anything specific in mind about what else you'd like to see reported in this case? The <T> is a deliberate placeholder for a type about which we don't know more.

I primarily filed this issue because I vaguely remember that including <T> in output was considered a compiler bug many years ago (although I cannot find a source for that…). I don't have concrete suggestions for a better placeholder, though I think Ian's suggestion is better than <T>, in particular now that T is a common name for type parameters, and people might not associate it with a placeholder.

Maybe to improve on Ian's suggestion we could even say <unknown type>, as that is impossible to be a valid identifier in any way.

@gopherbot
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Change https://go.dev/cl/473255 mentions this issue: go/types, types2: use "undefined type" rather than "<T>" in have/want error messages

@github-project-automation github-project-automation bot moved this from Todo to Done in Go Compiler / Runtime Mar 6, 2023
@golang golang locked and limited conversation to collaborators Mar 5, 2024
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