empty declarations¶

class and function declarations may be written without a body. basedpython fills in : ... at transpile time so the output is valid Python:

class Empty
class Stub(Base)
def stub(x: int) -> int

transpiles to:

class Empty: ...
class Stub(Base): ...
def stub(x: int) -> int: ...

scope¶

the bodyless form is recognized for both class and def. an empty class gets : .... a single empty def not in an overload run also gets : .... empty defs that are part of an overload run instead receive @overload decorators (see overloads)

an abstract def with no body is given : raise NotImplementedError rather than : ...

interaction with modifiers¶

modifiers stack as expected:

final class Sentinel
data class Empty

@final
class Sentinel: ...

@dataclass(slots=True)
class Empty: ...

why¶

a great deal of stub and protocol code consists of declaration-only signatures. allowing class Foo / def foo() without a placeholder body avoids : ... noise, particularly in stub-heavy modules and overload clusters