EditorConfig vs. Eslint vs. Prettier: Is it worthwhile to use them all?

Solution 1:

In my experience, the best combination is all 3, and here's why:

EditorConfig: This helps your editor produce code that looks like your style guide as you go. While this isn't strictly necessary in order to achieve your goals, it's nice if you're always looking at code that follows the same coding styles. Otherwise if you don't have EditorConfig, as you're typing your editor will auto-format differently to the rest of the code base, which is confusing. Of course if you've set up prettier it'll fix it before it goes into your code base, but still, why would you want to look at it in one format while you're writing it and then have it switch when you go to commit? Might as well be consistent.

Prettier: Automatically formats your code. I like to set it up to do this when I stage my files for a commit, so that it's physically impossible for me to commit code that doesn't match my style guide.

ESLint: So why would you want a linter too? Because ESLint does more than just style. It picks up when you declare variables you don't use, or reference things that aren't defined, amongst a few other niceties. So while its role diminishes somewhat compared to the days before prettier, it's still useful to have in a project to catch the other errors.

Hope that helps!

Solution 2:

While I think it's clear that you need both eslint and prettier I actually think that you can get rid of editorconfig at least in some cases.

If you have your editor setup to automatically format your code using prettier then the only difference between prettier and editorconfig is the rules they use.

For example prettier might not remove trailing white space in some cases or it might have a default rule that is impossible to change.

However if you're ok with the prettier rules and your editor supports autoformat using prettier than I guess you can remove editorconfig.

Solution 3:

Prettier

It removes all original styling and ensures that all outputted code conforms to a consistent style.

• It changes your code after writing your code.
• For example
  • on save with VSCode editor
  • with CLI like prettier --write .

Editorconfig

EditorConfig helps maintain consistent coding styles for multiple developers working on the same project across various editors and IDEs.

• It applies your rules before writing code
  • For example
    • When you press TAB, it leaves 4 spaces.

ESLint

ESLint statically analyzes your code to quickly find problems.

• ESLint finds problems in your code

To summarize:

• EditorConfig changes your editor settings.
• Prettier updates your code with your rules to reshape your code.

Finally:

• They have some common features in order to do the same things.
• I also agree with @KevinBrownTech to use 3 of them. Especially if you are working with a team.

Useful sources for who want to dive into:

• Feross Aboukhadijeh: Write Perfect Code With Standard And ESLint - JSConf.Asia 2018
• https://standardjs.com/

Also look at React framework's repo: