dmlc/xgboost

Better support for mypy.

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#6,496 opened on Dec 13, 2020

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feature-requestgood first issue

Description

Currently many more Python projects like dask and optuna are using Python type hints. With the Python package of xgboost gaining more and more features, we should also adopt mypy as a safe guard against some type errors and for better code documentation.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
python
Domain
developer experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Python type hintsmypy configurationxgboost Python module
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Start by examining the existing Python codebase for type hint coverage, then create a mypy configuration file and gradually add type annotations to key modules, especially the public API. Refer to comments in the issue for previous discussions on preferred style and strictness levels. The issue suggests adopting mypy as a safeguard, so focus on enabling mypy checks for the main Python package and resolving initial errors.