Coding Standards. My Thoughts, Opinions, and Grievances
07 Feb 2022Thoughts
Having coding standards will help software engineers write code that is clear and easy to understand. And with coding standards, a software engineer should be able to catch mistakes or problems in the code they write. I do agree that having some sort of coding standards will allow software engineers to have clear-cut code that allows peers to read and understand code easily. When it comes to web design, if the code is just a blob of code that works but it’s unreadable, it will be really hard to update a website and catch potential errors in the code!
Experiences and Opinions
When I installed ESLint with IntelliJ, it was a little difficult for me to make sure everything is set up properly. I got some issues where I had errors pop up when following instructions on set up. After getting through the issues, I was able to play around and write some code to see if it catches some errors. Sure, enough ESLint was able to catch errors and told me what to do in order to correct the errors.
After using ESLint for a few assignments however, I don’t think that there is a single “golden standard” that can cover all the different programming languages nor does it apply to all companies that hire the software engineer. There can be different standards for different companies. But knowing that by using ESLint, it provides the groundwork for me as a software engineer to be able to have consistent code so people can easily understand what it does.
Grievances
When it came to using ESLint, the green checkmark was really useful at times and sometimes it was a pain to worry about. When I’m writing my functions and programs, ESLint gives errors when I’m not even done with the function. This tends to throw me off since I try to keep my errors in check when writing my code. Another grievance I got with ESLint is that the fact that I need to set it up all the time for each project is quite bothersome. But I guess the price of having good professional code is that I need to have this program remind me every time I have an error.
Conclusion
Overall, I think coding standards are important for me as a software engineer to develop but there is no one fits all when it comes to the industry. I like using ESLint to make sure my code is written properly but it gives me anxiety when I’m not done writing my functions and it yells at me to fix my code.