Lint Problems
21 Sep 2025After installing ESLint and having some practice with this tool through VSCode, I find that it makes the users follow a very strict format of syntax and structure. It feels like a perfectionist urging me to fix my code whenever I see a red squiggle. ESLint makes the programmer’s job become more “nitty-gritty” as they now have to not only focus on the logic behind the lines of code but also how it is presented. Specific indents and no trailing space are things that people do not usually notice much when writing their program. Even though these corrections from the tool may feel annoying to some people, I find its enforcement on better coding standards very helpful.
The “nitty-gritty” part
One thing that bugs me when I first used ESLint was the squiggly lines. To me, it can be hard to focus when bright red error notifications are constantly popping up when I try to focus and complete the WOD before DNF time.
The result
Looking back to my previous ICS classes, my codes were messy, as I would add a space wherever I remember to. With ESLint, I find myself understanding my code more because of the format and how “clean” my file would look at the end. One thing I specifically like and found most useful so far is that ESLint has strict rules for blank or empty lines. It helps the viewer know where each section is clearly and easier to be understood among others.
On top of it all, I would never have thought that learning about coding standards can teach me about coding practice. Throughout the practice WODs that I completed with ESLint, the tool always corrected my usage of “const” and “let”, so much that I began to understand more on how and when to use what variable declaration. I like to apply coding concepts into real life examples, so to my understanding, “const” is essentially used when a variable is considered more permanent, just like a house owner, while “less” is referring to renters, who are expected to come and go. This realization opened my eyes to be more considerate and careful when I write my code, as it helps me to think more about how the variable can and will be used later on so that I can give it the appropriate declaration from the beginning.
Conclusion
I believe that coding standards is extremly important, especially during a collaborative settings. With tools like ESLint, code can be seen and understood more clearly since everyone has their own style and format. To me, ESLint is exactly what people think it is (including people without knowledge of the tool or programming), it is lint, or maybe more specifically, it is a lint trap. Lint is mostly invisible to the human’s eyes, as they would only see a dust ball of it after drying their clothes with a dryer. Whenever I need to take those dust balls out, I sneeze uncontrollably and that bugs me, but without empty that lint trap, my dryer would never be as efficient and my clothes would never be as clean, just like my coding practice and my lines of code.
