Standardize Your Software!
09 Feb 2022Standards in coding?
When it comes to solo or collaborative work, especially in coding, standards are always a top priority to keep your work uniform and efficient. While spontaneity and non-homogenized work is encouraged in more creative fields such as music or art, it is something enforced for the best interest in software engineering. For example, if you are building a house, or a wall, you want all your bricks to fit the same scheme, composition, and mold so that whatever you build is structurally sound, visually pleasing, and quickly built. Over the past couple weeks, I have been exposed to and have been practicing coding under the format of coding standards. While it is not a completely new experience for me, it has made my current work slightly more difficult.
An upgrade to IntelliJ
Throughout my earlier semesters of coding and software designing, I have used a few different IDEs, such as Eclipse and even something like Vim editor. They were all great resources that I learned a lot from using. Overall I would recommend them to anyone wanting to learn, and if they are using Java, then I would highly recommend Eclipse. Anyways, thanks to my privileges as a student, I am able to utilize Jet Brain’s very own Intellij IDE. This IDE has proven to be very user-friendly with easy-to-access settings and management. One really neat feature is how you can customize your environment to accommodate the languages and plug-ins that you want. This means you can delete/disable the features you don’t want or need to make it more organized. Aside from its efficiency and functionality, IntelliJ has a very easy to look at interface as well as an aesthetic button set and logo. Overall I would give it a high rating, not to mention its compatibility with GitHub.
EsLint has entered the fray!
Linting, some may say it dictates their code, some may argue that it improves their code. While I may still be on the side of linting being a dictator, I have definitely grown as a coder to see the value and beauty of formatting and stylizing your code. Using this has honestly been a hassle that I do not like, I feel like it constricts my coding and feels like I am being watched by a nitpicky grader. However, there is a reason for it being part of my practices so that is teaches me to have practical skills when I may work in a field where standards are the only thing unifying multiple collaborators.
Overall I have expanded my skills these last couple weeks as I learn to utilize new tools and adhere to new rules. Hopefully I will learn even more and master my utilization of said tools.