unsafe_variance

Unsafe type: Has a type variable in a non-covariant position.

An instance variable whose type contains a type parameter of the enclosing class, mixin, or enum in a non-covariant position is likely to cause run-time failures due to failing type checks. For example, in class C<X> {...}, an instance variable of the form void Function(X) myVariable; may cause this kind of run-time failure.

The same is true for a getter or method whose return type has a non-covariant occurrence of a type parameter of the enclosing declaration.

This lint flags this kind of member declaration.

BAD:

class C<X> {
  final bool Function(X) fun; // LINT
  C(this.fun);
}

void main() {
  C<num> c = C<int>((i) => i.isEven);
  c.fun(10); // Throws.
}

The problem is that X occurs as a parameter type in the type of fun.

One way to reduce the potential for run-time type errors is to ensure that the non-covariant member fun is only used on this. We cannot strictly enforce this, but we can make it private and add a forwarding method fun such that we can check locally in the same library that this constraint is satisfied:

BETTER:

class C<X> {
  // ignore: unsafe_variance
  final bool Function(X) _fun;
  bool fun(X x) => _fun(x);
  C(this._fun);
}

void main() {
  C<num> c = C<int>((i) => i.isEven);
  c.fun(10); // Succeeds.
}

A fully safe approach requires a feature that Dart does not yet have, namely statically checked variance. With that, we could specify that the type parameter X is invariant (inout X).

It is possible to emulate invariance without support for statically checked variance. This puts some restrictions on the creation of subtypes, but faithfully provides the typing that inout would give:

GOOD:

typedef Inv<X> = X Function(X);
typedef C<X> = _C<X, Inv<X>>;

class _C<X, Invariance extends Inv<X>> {
  // ignore: unsafe_variance
  final bool Function(X) fun; // Safe!
  _C(this.fun);
}

void main() {
  C<int> c = C<int>((i) => i.isEven);
  c.fun(10); // Succeeds.
}

With this approach, C<int> is not a subtype of C<num>, so c must have a different declared type.

Another possibility is to declare the variable to have a safe but more general type. It is then safe to use the variable itself, but every invocation will have to be checked at run time:

HONEST:

class C<X> {
  final bool Function(Never) fun;
  C(this.fun);
}

void main() {
  C<num> c = C<int>((int i) => i.isEven);
  var cfun = c.fun; // Local variable, enables promotion.
  if (cfun is bool Function(int)) cfun(10); // Succeeds.
  if (cfun is bool Function(bool)) cfun(true); // Not called.
}

To enable the unsafe_variance rule, add unsafe_variance under linter > rules in your analysis_options.yaml file:

linter:
  rules:
    - unsafe_variance

If you're instead using the YAML map syntax to configure linter rules, add unsafe_variance: true under linter > rules:

linter:
  rules:
    unsafe_variance: true

Unless stated otherwise, the documentation on this site reflects Dart 3.7.0. Page last updated on 2025-01-27. View source or report an issue.