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Checkstyle vs ESLint: What are the differences?
Key Differences between Checkstyle and ESLint
Checkstyle and ESLint are popular linters used for identifying and reporting code style issues in Java and JavaScript respectively. While both tools serve the same purpose, there are several key differences that set them apart.
Supported Languages: Checkstyle is primarily designed for Java projects, whereas ESLint is designed specifically for JavaScript. Checkstyle analyzes Java source code, while ESLint analyzes JavaScript source code.
Configuration: Checkstyle uses an XML-based configuration file to define the coding rules and guidelines to be enforced. In contrast, ESLint uses a JavaScript-based configuration file, which allows for more flexible and customizable rule configurations.
Extensibility: Checkstyle offers a limited number of core checks that need to be defined in the configuration file. In contrast, ESLint provides a vast collection of official and third-party plugins and rules, allowing developers to extend and customize the linting rules based on their project requirements.
Integration: Checkstyle is typically integrated with build tools such as Maven or Gradle and is often run as part of the build process. ESLint, on the other hand, can be integrated with various development tools, editors, and frameworks, providing real-time linting feedback during development.
Rule Coverage: Checkstyle focuses more on enforcing coding conventions and style guidelines, such as indentation, naming conventions, and code structure. ESLint covers a wider range of linting rules, including coding conventions, best practices, potential errors, and even security vulnerabilities.
Community Support: Both Checkstyle and ESLint have active communities, but ESLint has a larger and more active user base, which contributes to the availability of a wide range of plugins, rules, and online resources.
In summary, Checkstyle and ESLint differ in their supported languages, configuration methods, extensibility, integration options, rule coverage, and community support. While Checkstyle is more focused on enforcing coding conventions in Java projects, ESLint provides a broader range of linting rules and has better support for JavaScript development.
Scenario: I want to integrate Prettier in our code base which is currently using ESLint (for .js and .scss both). The project is using gulp.
It doesn't feel quite right to me to use ESLint, I wonder if it would be better to use Stylelint or Sass Lint instead.
I completed integrating ESLint + Prettier, Planning to do the same with [ Stylelint || Sasslint || EsLint] + Prettier.
And have gulp 'fix' on file save (Watcher).
Any recommendation is appreciated.
In the case of .js files I would recommend using both Eslint and Prettier.
You can set up Prettier as an Eslint rule using the following plugin:
https://github.com/prettier/eslint-plugin-prettier
And in order to avoid conflicts between Prettier and Eslint, you can use this config:
https://github.com/prettier/eslint-config-prettier
Which turns off all Eslint rules that are unnecessary or might conflict with Prettier.
Pura vida! Well, I had a similar issue and at the end I decided to use Stylelint + Prettier for that job, in our case, we wanted that our linting process includes the SCSS files and not only the JS file, base on that we concluded that using only ESLint to do both things wasn't the best option, so, we integrated prettier with Stylelint, and for that we used a neat plugin that allowed us to use Prettier inside Stylelint here is the link, https://github.com/prettier/stylelint-prettier#recommended-configuration, I hope that this can help you, hasta pronto!, :)
you don't actually have to choose between these tools as they have vastly different purposes. i think its more a matter of understanding how to use them.
while eslint and stylelint are used to notify you about code quality issues, to guide you to write better code, prettier automatically handles code formatting (without notifying me). nothing else.
prettier and eslint both officially discourage using the eslint-plugin-prettier way, as these tools actually do very different things. autofixing with linters on watch isnt a great idea either. auto-fixing should only be done intentionally. you're not alone though, as a lot of devs set this up wrong.
i encourage you to think about what problem you're trying to solve and configure accordingly.
for my teams i set it up like this: - eslint, stylelint, prettier locally installed for cli use and ide support - eslint config prettier (code formatting rules are not eslints business, so dont warn me about it) - vscode workspace config: format on save - separate npm scripts for linting, and formatting - precommit hooks (husky)
so you can easily integrate with gulp. its just js after all ;)
Pros of Checkstyle
Pros of ESLint
- Consistent javascript - opinions don't matter anymore8
- Free6
- IDE Integration6
- Customizable4
- Focuses code review on quality not style2
- Broad ecosystem of support & users2