Use a dedicated error code for assignment to method (#14570)

Fixes #2427

I also add some special logic, so that `# type: ignore[assignment]` will cover `[method-assign]`.

docs/source/error_code_list.rst

@@ -339,6 +339,35 @@ Example:
     #        variable has type "str")  [assignment]
     r.name = 5
 
+Check that assignment target is not a method [method-assign]
+------------------------------------------------------------
+
+In general, assigning to a method on class object or instance (a.k.a.
+monkey-patching) is ambiguous in terms of types, since Python's static type
+system cannot express difference between bound and unbound callable types.
+Consider this example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+   class A:
+       def f(self) -> None: pass
+       def g(self) -> None: pass
+
+   def h(self: A) -> None: pass
+
+   A.f = h  # type of h is Callable[[A], None]
+   A().f()  # this works
+   A.f = A().g  # type of A().g is Callable[[], None]
+   A().f()  # but this also works at runtime
+
+To prevent the ambiguity, mypy will flag both assignments by default. If this
+error code is disabled, mypy will treat all method assignments r.h.s. as unbound,
+so the second assignment will still generate an error.
+
+.. note::
+
+    This error code is a sub-error code of a wider ``[assignment]`` code.
+
 Check type variable values [type-var]
 -------------------------------------
 

docs/source/error_codes.rst

@@ -113,3 +113,14 @@ still keep the other two error codes enabled. The overall logic is following:
 So one can e.g. enable some code globally, disable it for all tests in
 the corresponding config section, and then re-enable it with an inline
 comment in some specific test.
+
+Sub-error codes of other error codes
+------------------------------------
+
+In rare cases (mostly for backwards compatibility reasons), some error
+code may be covered by another, wider error code. For example, an error with
+code ``[method-assign]`` can be ignored by ``# type: ignore[assignment]``.
+Similar logic works for disabling error codes globally. If a given error code
+is a sub code of another one, it must mentioned in the docs for the narrower
+code. This hierarchy is not nested, there cannot be sub-error codes of other
+sub-error codes.

mypy/errorcodes.py

@@ -5,19 +5,30 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from collections import defaultdict
 from typing_extensions import Final
 
 error_codes: dict[str, ErrorCode] = {}
+sub_code_map: dict[str, set[str]] = defaultdict(set)
 
 
 class ErrorCode:
     def __init__(
-        self, code: str, description: str, category: str, default_enabled: bool = True
+        self,
+        code: str,
+        description: str,
+        category: str,
+        default_enabled: bool = True,
+        sub_code_of: ErrorCode | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         self.code = code
         self.description = description
         self.category = category
         self.default_enabled = default_enabled
+        self.sub_code_of = sub_code_of
+        if sub_code_of is not None:
+            assert sub_code_of.sub_code_of is None, "Nested subcategories are not supported"
+            sub_code_map[sub_code_of.code].add(code)
         error_codes[code] = self
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
@@ -51,6 +62,12 @@ def __str__(self) -> str:
 ASSIGNMENT: Final[ErrorCode] = ErrorCode(
     "assignment", "Check that assigned value is compatible with target", "General"
 )
+METHOD_ASSIGN: Final[ErrorCode] = ErrorCode(
+    "method-assign",
+    "Check that assignment target is not a method",
+    "General",
+    sub_code_of=ASSIGNMENT,
+)
 TYPE_ARG: Final = ErrorCode("type-arg", "Check that generic type arguments are present", "General")
 TYPE_VAR: Final = ErrorCode("type-var", "Check that type variable values are valid", "General")
 UNION_ATTR: Final = ErrorCode(

mypy/errors.py

@@ -586,7 +586,11 @@ def is_ignored_error(self, line: int, info: ErrorInfo, ignores: dict[int, list[s
             # Empty list means that we ignore all errors
             return True
         if info.code and self.is_error_code_enabled(info.code):
-            return info.code.code in ignores[line]
+            return (
+                info.code.code in ignores[line]
+                or info.code.sub_code_of is not None
+                and info.code.sub_code_of.code in ignores[line]
+            )
         return False
 
     def is_error_code_enabled(self, error_code: ErrorCode) -> bool:
@@ -601,6 +605,8 @@ def is_error_code_enabled(self, error_code: ErrorCode) -> bool:
             return False
         elif error_code in current_mod_enabled:
             return True
+        elif error_code.sub_code_of is not None and error_code.sub_code_of in current_mod_disabled:
+            return False
         else:
             return error_code.default_enabled
 
@@ -641,6 +647,10 @@ def generate_unused_ignore_errors(self, file: str) -> None:
             if len(ignored_codes) > 1 and len(unused_ignored_codes) > 0:
                 unused_codes_message = f"[{', '.join(sorted(unused_ignored_codes))}]"
             message = f'Unused "type: ignore{unused_codes_message}" comment'
+            for unused in unused_ignored_codes:
+                narrower = set(used_ignored_codes) & codes.sub_code_map[unused]
+                if narrower:
+                    message += f", use narrower [{', '.join(narrower)}] instead of [{unused}]"
             # Don't use report since add_error_info will ignore the error!
             info = ErrorInfo(
                 self.import_context(),

mypy/messages.py

@@ -1402,7 +1402,7 @@ def base_class_definitions_incompatible(
         )
 
     def cant_assign_to_method(self, context: Context) -> None:
-        self.fail(message_registry.CANNOT_ASSIGN_TO_METHOD, context, code=codes.ASSIGNMENT)
+        self.fail(message_registry.CANNOT_ASSIGN_TO_METHOD, context, code=codes.METHOD_ASSIGN)
 
     def cant_assign_to_classvar(self, name: str, context: Context) -> None:
         self.fail(f'Cannot assign to class variable "{name}" via instance', context)

test-data/unit/check-errorcodes.test

@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ class A:
 
 def g(self: A) -> None: pass
 
-A.f = g  # E: Cannot assign to a method  [assignment]
+A.f = g  # E: Cannot assign to a method  [method-assign]
 
 [case testErrorCodeDefinedHereNoteIgnore]
 import m
@@ -1006,3 +1006,35 @@ def f():
 # flags: --disable-error-code=annotation-unchecked
 def f():
     x: int = "no"  # No warning here
+
+[case testMethodAssignmentSuppressed]
+# flags: --disable-error-code=method-assign
+class A:
+    def f(self) -> None: pass
+    def g(self) -> None: pass
+
+def h(self: A) -> None: pass
+
+A.f = h
+# This actually works at runtime, but there is no way to express this in current type system
+A.f = A().g  # E: Incompatible types in assignment (expression has type "Callable[[], None]", variable has type "Callable[[A], None]")  [assignment]
+
+[case testMethodAssignCoveredByAssignmentIgnore]
+class A:
+    def f(self) -> None: pass
+def h(self: A) -> None: pass
+A.f = h  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+[case testMethodAssignCoveredByAssignmentFlag]
+# flags: --disable-error-code=assignment
+class A:
+    def f(self) -> None: pass
+def h(self: A) -> None: pass
+A.f = h  # OK
+
+[case testMethodAssignCoveredByAssignmentUnused]
+# flags: --warn-unused-ignores
+class A:
+    def f(self) -> None: pass
+def h(self: A) -> None: pass
+A.f = h  # type: ignore[assignment]  # E: Unused "type: ignore" comment, use narrower [method-assign] instead of [assignment]