Coding Standards
21 Sep 2023
Always by My Side
When people first start to learn how to code, the first topics touch on are different functions, loops, and variables. Everything is rainbows and unicorns until coding standards are introduced- where comments outnumber the lines of codes in your program, the number of spaces matters at the beginning and between of each line, and whenever you should use the TAB character or spaces. Getting down to the nitty gritty of coding can be troublesome and annoying at first, but as the journey to becoming a well-seasoned coder becomes more clear and apparent, one thing I would never want to leave behind is coding standards.
The Great Start
Since starting my coding journey, maintaining good coding standards was something that was taught from day one. I believe that being taught coding standards from the very beginning can help you become a better coder because you are able to follow your code, line to line, and understand the reason of writing each line. From personal experience, when I was taking a class on data structures using Vi in C/C++, we were required to write out the reasoning for writing each line/block of code and doing this had helped me understand why I was writing certain lines and it also helped me debug my code because I was able to see what lines contributed to what reason. In comparison to when I was first starting out, in my introduction to computer science courses, I would sometimes type out random lines of codes extracted from Stack Overflow or Reddit in order pass my JUnit tests or clear a certain error. By doing this, I clearly had not learned anything useful and rather build a bad habit of relying on internet forums for help. That is why I believe having these coding standards will help you become a better coder.
ESLint: Love it or Hate it
After working with ESLint in IntelliJ for about a week, I noticed that it was no different than any other IDE’s I have worked with in the past. I liked how IntelliJ will tell me in real time if there is any errors with my program using the green checkmark, caution symbol, and red exclamation symbol. Though it does get annoying when I am first setting up a function and I have about a million errors telling me I am missing a curly brace, parameters, and indentation. However, it reminds me of a nagging Grandmother who will always tell you to eat or clean up even if you done it already or in the middle of doing it, and you cannot get mad at Grandma because you love her. That is how I feel about ESLint in IntelliJ, where ESLint is that Grandmother who cannot give me a break but I cannot blame or hate it, because I love it and will always need it.