ESLint VS JSLint

Let's be honest - setting up tools for a new project can be a frustrating process. Especially when you want to jump straight to coding part. This is often the case with ESLint and Prettier, two popular tools in the JavaScript ecosystem that can sometimes interfere with each other when it comes to code formatting. Fortunately, there's a simple solution to this process, and it's called eslint-plugin-prettier.

Do you have the need to find and fix problems in your JavaScript? Then ESLint is for you. With over 120 million downloads each month, it's definitely one of the most popular projects out there. The latest version introduces a new configuration system, designed to simplify available configuration options. Old and deprecated rules have been removed, and a new configuration inspector has been added. Check out the blog for all the highlights, and a migration guide.

ESLint: A pluggable and configurable linter tool for identifying and reporting on patterns in JavaScript.

Automating code checks with static code analysis allows us to enforce code styling effectively. By integrating tools into our workflow, we can identify errors at an early stage, while coding instead of blocking us at the end. For instance, flake8 checks Python code for style and errors, eslint performs similar checks for JavaScript, and prettier automatically formats code to maintain consistency.

If you're a developer, you're surely familiar with Prettier and ESLint. With over 8 years of existence, they have established themselves as references in the JavaScript ecosystem.

eslint is used to avoid code errors

No lint errors: The committed code does not contain any lint errors (eslint).

Let’s walk through the steps for a one-time setup to configure husky pre-commit and pre-push hooks, ESLint with code styles conventions, prettier code formatter, and lint-staged. Husky automatically runs a script on each commit or push. This is useful for linting files to enforce code styles that keeps the entire code base following conventions.

GitHub | Website

ESLint: A pluggable and configurable linter tool for identifying and reporting on patterns in JavaScript.

This is the spec for the language Douglas Crockford (author of the book "JavaScript: The Good Parts", the JSON specification[1], JSLint[2]) had explained in his famous talk: "The Next Programming Language"[3].

The "big things" in the language are the Actor model, favouring immutability and capabilities-based security.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON

[2] https://www.jslint.com/

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2idkNdKqpQ

Someone should write a book about this [0] and a tool to automate checking your JavaScript code [1].

[0]: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/javascript-the-good/978...

[1]: https://www.jslint.com/

I'm working on a book called "How to not get your knickers in a twist because you neglected to learn from people who came before you."

JavaScript Linter

One way to achieve this is by using linting tools like ESLint or JSLint. These tools automatically analyze your code for errors, stylistic inconsistencies, and potential security vulnerabilities. By customizing the linting rules to align with coding standards and best practices, you can identify and rectify potential security issues early in the development process. Linting helps maintain a clean and secure codebase.

>Does this mean that in theory i could skip the build/bundling step entirely?

You can but you must write your app in something the browser understands (js not ts, css not sass etc) and use native modules. For example, here is the test harness for a custom module, written in pure html with no build step: https://github.com/javajosh/simpatico/blob/master/combine2.h.... Here is a more complex (and much older) example from Crockford: https://www.jslint.com/

And yes, the experience developing this way is quite nice!

I came across a problem where I had to find the ES6 features used by any javascript project and other data regarding their use. When I reached out to stackoverflow, I could find only one relevant post which asks you to use linters like jshint/jshint or compilers like babel. Jslint didn't seem to report anything specific to ES6 and Babel converts all the ES6+ features to ES5 but doesn't report anything regarding which constructs were used or how many times they were used. However, Jshint reported all ES6 features used in the code along with some metadata. And, to suit my needs, I ended up writing a python script that calls Jshint on all JS files in a project and presents the features used in the project and the number of times they were used across all files. You can find the code here : jsHintRunner

Javascript Linting parses and checks if any syntax is violating the rule. If a violation occurs, a warning is shown explaining unexpected behavior. Use the online version for small projects: JSLint, ESLint or JSHint. For larger projects, it is recommended to use a task runner like Gulp or Grunt. Linters ensure developers are following the best practices as a result of which few bugs appear during project development.

Programmers of classical languages hate JavaScript because it's prototype-based, dynamic and weakly typed (among other complaints). It's also the number one most in-demand programming language in 2022 according to a number of independent surveys. JSLint can help you write better JavaScript and JSMin can minify your code before deployment. These tools were created by Douglas Crockford. I would recommend his books JavaScript: The Good Parts for programmers coming to JavaScript for the first time, and How JavaScript Works for experienced JavaScript programmers.