[Request] Show inferred type in code like Kotlin

[bernaferrari]

I wish I could see Dart code with those suggestions, like Kotlin. For examples, check activity:,this:ActivityMainBinding, :NavController and others in the picture.

I'm not sure if this is similar to #472 but seems like a separate request.

[pq]

Thanks for the suggestion @bernaferrari! We've talked about surfacing inferred types before (as you noted in the issue you linked) but I'm not sure if it's on a current roadmap. This is a great example of prior art too. Very helpful!

/cc @jwren @bwilkerson

[bernaferrari]

My thinking was "hey, it already works (and really fine!) in Kotlin, can't we just copy and paste for Dart?". I understand there are differences here and there, but Dart is getting closer and closer to Kotlin (null-safety soon), so it shouldn't be that much work.

[pq]

The main difference is that we delegate to a server process for analysis and will need to (potentially) update the protocol to supply this information (if it's not there already). We do have that information though so it's really just a matter of getting it to the IDE (and then presenting it).

@DanTup: while we're on the topic, I wonder if there's anything similar in VS Code?

[DanTup]

If I understand correctly, this is a similar request to Dart-Code/Dart-Code#1160 / dart-lang/sdk#34196. The server doesn't currently provide the information we'd like to show, so it'll need some work there first.

[jwren]

@leafpetersen who has been asking for this since before Dart 2.0

[bernaferrari]

It seems everyone is active here. Nice to hear. I have a random question. Is there any effort to improve the dart/flutter linter with decent auto correct suggestions? I have a few requests already, but I don't want to pollute the issue tracker.