type — Easy Examples

Declares a type alias (3.12+)

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Type aliases (Python 3.12+)

Using the type statement for type aliases.

python
# type statement creates a type alias
# type Point = tuple[int, int]  # Python 3.12+ syntax

# Using typing module (works in all versions)
from typing import TypeAlias

# Pre-3.12 type alias
Point: TypeAlias = tuple[int, int]

def distance(p1: Point, p2: Point) -> float:
    return ((p1[0]-p2[0])**2 + (p1[1]-p2[1])**2) ** 0.5

p1 = (0, 0)
p2 = (3, 4)
print(f"Distance: {distance(p1, p2)}")

# type() as a builtin function
print(f"type(42): {type(42)}")
print(f"type('hi'): {type('hi')}")
print(f"type([1]): {type([1])}")
Expected Output
Distance: 5.0
type(42): <class 'int'>
type('hi'): <class 'str'>
type([1]): <class 'list'>

'type' is both a soft keyword (Python 3.12+) for type aliases and a builtin function for checking types. As a keyword, it creates cleaner type alias syntax.

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