GeezerVison

This PR introduces the ability to use type inference in conditional types (#21316), enabling pattern matching for types. For example, the following extracts the return type of a function type:

type ReturnType<T> = T extends (...args: any[]) => infer R ? R : T;

Within the extends clause of a conditional type, it is now possible to have infer declarations that introduce a type variable to be inferred. Such inferred type variables may be referenced in the true branch of the conditional type. It is possible to have multiple infer locations for the same type variable.

A conditional type T extends U ? X : Y is either resolved to X or Y, or deferred because the condition depends on one or more type variables. Whether to resolve or defer is determined as follows:

• First, given types T' and U' that are instantiations of T and U where all occurrences of type parameters are replaced with any, if T' is not assignable to U', the conditional type is resolved to Y. Intuitively, if the most permissive instantiation of T is not assignable to the most permissive instantiation of U, we know that no instantiation will be and we can just resolve to Y.
• Next, for each type variable introduced by an infer declaration within U collect a set of candidate types by inferring from T to U (using the same inference algorithm as type inference for generic functions). For a given infer type variable V, if any candidates were inferred from co-variant positions, the type inferred for V is a union of those candidates. Otherwise, if any candidates were inferred from contra-variant positions, the type inferred for V is an intersection of those candidates. Otherwise, the type inferred for V is never.
• Then, given a type T'' that is an instantiation of T where all infer type variables are replaced with the types inferred in the previous step, if T'' is definitely assignable to U, the conditional type is resolved to X. The definitely assignable relation is the same as the regular assignable relation, except that type variable constraints are not considered. Intuitively, when a type is definitely assignable to another type, we know that it will be assignable for all instantiations of those types.
• Otherwise, the condition depends on one or more type variables and the conditional type is deferred.

Conditional types can be nested to form a sequence of pattern matches that are evaluated in order:

type Unpacked<T> =
    T extends (infer U)[] ? U :
    T extends (...args: any[]) => infer U ? U :
    T extends Promise<infer U> ? U :
    T;

type T0 = Unpacked<string>;  // string
type T1 = Unpacked<string[]>;  // string
type T2 = Unpacked<() => string>;  // string
type T3 = Unpacked<Promise<string>>;  // string
type T4 = Unpacked<Promise<string>[]>;  // Promise<string>
type T5 = Unpacked<Unpacked<Promise<string>[]>>;  // string

Note that is not possible for a conditional type to recursively reference itself, as might be desired in the Unpacked<T> case above. We're still considering ways in which to implement this.

The following example demonstrates how multiple candidates for the same type variable in co-variant positions causes a union type to be inferred:

type Foo<T> = T extends { a: infer U, b: infer U } ? U : never;
type T10 = Foo<{ a: string, b: string }>;  // string
type T11 = Foo<{ a: string, b: number }>;  // string | number

Likewise, multiple candidates for the same type variable in contra-variant positions causes an intersection type to be inferred:

type Bar<T> = T extends { a: (x: infer U) => void, b: (x: infer U) => void } ? U : never;
type T20 = Bar<{ a: (x: string) => void, b: (x: string) => void }>;  // string
type T21 = Bar<{ a: (x: string) => void, b: (x: number) => void }>;  // string & number

When inferring from a type with multiple call signatures (such as the type of an overloaded function), inferences are made from the last signature (which, presumably, is the most permissive catch-all case). It is not possible to perform overload resolution based on a list of argument types (this would require us to support typeof for arbitrary expressions, as suggested in #6606, or something similar).

declare function foo(x: string): number;
declare function foo(x: number): string;
declare function foo(x: string | number): string | number;
type T30 = ReturnType<typeof foo>;  // string | number

It is not possible to use infer declarations in constraint clauses for regular type parameters:

type ReturnType<T extends (...args: any[]) => infer R> = R;  // Error, not supported

However, much the same effect can be obtained by erasing the type variables in the constraint and instead specifying a conditional type:

type AnyFunction = (...args: any[]) => any;
type ReturnType<T extends AnyFunction> = T extends (...args: any[]) => infer R ? R : never;