File: duck_type_compatibility.rst

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Duck type compatibility
-----------------------

In Python, certain types are compatible even though they aren't subclasses of
each other. For example, ``int`` objects are valid whenever ``float`` objects
are expected. Mypy supports this idiom via *duck type compatibility*. This is
supported for a small set of built-in types:

* ``int`` is duck type compatible with ``float`` and ``complex``.
* ``float`` is duck type compatible with ``complex``.
* ``bytearray`` and ``memoryview`` are duck type compatible with ``bytes``.

For example, mypy considers an ``int`` object to be valid whenever a
``float`` object is expected.  Thus code like this is nice and clean
and also behaves as expected:

.. code-block:: python

   import math

   def degrees_to_radians(degrees: float) -> float:
       return math.pi * degrees / 180

   n = 90  # Inferred type 'int'
   print(degrees_to_radians(n))  # Okay!

You can also often use :ref:`protocol-types` to achieve a similar effect in
a more principled and extensible fashion. Protocols don't apply to
cases like ``int`` being compatible with ``float``, since ``float`` is not
a protocol class but a regular, concrete class, and many standard library
functions expect concrete instances of ``float`` (or ``int``).