Helpful or Hindrance
06 Feb 2019ESLint
Like any other writing style, coding has its own format that should be followed. It is meant to be used universally and to create unity across all programmers so that anyone would be able to pick up any code in a certain language and be able to read it pretty easily. A coding style that I have recently become familiar with is ESLint which is used with Intellij idea. My first impression of ESLint was that of a nagging parent or sibling who picks at every little thing that you do.
My Impressions
What I mean by this is that whenever I’m using ESLint, I could be in the middle of typing a line of code and there it is- the menacing and demeaning little red squiggle under my code and along with it a little red circle with an exclamation point in the corner of my screen.
These ever present red corrections and nagging reminders make it even more satisfying when the red squiggles disappear and a green check marking my success appears in the corner of my screen. It really is odd how a little symbol that is the size of an ant can bring such a feeling of relief after being antagonized and being told all of the things that you were doing wrong. It’s almost like proving all those who doubted you wrong after a recent success.
What’d I do wrong this time?
Since ESLint updates after what seems like each character that is typed, it can sometimes be distracting. This is because I start to focus on the “errors” that I have made, which sometimes aren’t errors at all, instead I am just not done typing yet. In this sense it reminds me of being interrupted in the middle of a sentence by a sibling or parent to correct your grammar. A solution to this problem would be fairly simple in my opinion. If ESLint could update every time you refreshed or tried to run your program it would not be as ever-present or looking over your shoulder as you try to code.
Helpful Yet a Hindrance
Overall, as annoying and pesky as ESLint might be it is afterall a useful tool. I do wish that it would not update as quickly as it does but it is efficient in picking out your mistakes which can be dealt with at the time that they are created. This helps to build good habits rather than bad ones of sloppy coding and formatting. So in the end ESLint is helpful yet a hindrance all in one.