What is Linting and how to use a Linter tool💻
Tags: webdev, javascript, eslint, programming
Published: 2023-11-08 18:31:18

## What is Linting?
Linting is defined as the **automated checking** of your source code for **programmatic** and **stylistic** errors. It is the process of performing **static analysis** on the source code to flag patterns that might cause errors or other problems.

## What can Linting do?

- Linting can **detect errors** in code and detect the errors that can lead to **security vulnerabilities**.

- Linting can detect **formatting or styling issues** and makes the code more **readable and optimized**.

- Linting makes **maintaining the code** much more easier.

- Overall, Linting increases the **quality of the code**.


![linting](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/m2mdenq1bwfos22u8ykh.png)

## What are Linters?

The term **"lint"** was derived from the name of the tiny bits of fiber and fluff shed by clothing, as the command should act like a dryer machine lint trap, detecting small errors with big effects.

Today, we use the term **"linters"** for a class of tools that check code for **common bugs** and **stylistic errors**. Most linters are **highly configurable** so they can enforce the standards of your organization.

## Why should you use Linters?
There are 2 main reasons to use a Linter - 

- To save yourself trouble by avoiding common problems

- To enforce a common coding style across a team

Everyone makes mistakes when they’re coding. It’s easy to use the **wrong type of bracket**, **forget a semicolon**, or **misspell something**. Checking your code for these types of errors is the kind of thing that computers excel at. Rather than reviewing your code line by line for **common syntax errors**, you can tell a computer what types of errors to look for.

![robots](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ehnm6ltvch7y5dvva00w.png)

## Types of Linters
There are tons of Linters available out there, choosing the appropriate and most useful ones will depend on your tech-stack. Primarily, for **Front-End Development** linters are used in three main domains - 

- JavaScript

- CSS

- Formatting

The most popular ones are - **ESLint** for JavaScript, **Prettier** for Formatting and **Stylelint** for CSS.

## ESLint
There have been several popular JavaScript linters over the years, but **ESLint** is the most popular right now. ESLint places a particular emphasis on **extensibility**, with a very active community for **plugins**, **modules** and **shared configs**.

## Stylelint

![stylelint](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9w5l84hk8ld7r6caav7j.png)
Stylelint is the most popular linter for CSS. It can even be used to **lint CSS in other files**, like **script** elements in HTML and **CSS-in-JS**. It is modeled heavily on ESLint, following the extensible model.

## Prettier

![prettier](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/41f43jzss2tj97w2gbtd.jpg)
The main focus of Prettier is to take care of **code formatting** and making the code as readable as possible. Things like **code block indentation**, **preventing nested ternaries**, **preventing long code lines** and **unnecessary semicolons** are taken care by Prettier. It provides support for many languages like **JavaScript**, **CSS**, **HTML** and **Markdown**.

## How to use a Linter?
There are several options to use a linter, depending on how much control you have over your **development environment**.

At the most basic level, you can **install a linter into your editor**. Most linters have **plugins for VS Code and other editors**. If you add a **lint config file** to your project, then anyone with the linter installed in their editor will benefit from the shared set of rules.

![eslint](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0fdnr6fonkv1g3409y9p.png)

## Ignoring Linter rules
Most linters will allow you to set up an **"ignore"** file that tells the linter to not pay attention to certain files. Linters also usually include a **special comment** you can add to **disable** the linter rules for the **next line or section of code**. The comment may look something like this - 

```
/* stylelint-disable-next-line declaration-no-important */
display: none !important;
```
This comment tells Stylelint to **disable the “No !important”** rule on the next line.

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