A Personal Peer Reviewer for Coding
23 Sep 2021
Like Writing an Essay
Coding standards is not new to me as in the first couple of ICS courses you take, the professors emphasize the importance of coding standards not only for homework and projects but also the application of it in a professional career scene as well. Coding standards, how I view them, are like the standards and format of one who is writing an essay in MLA, APA, or Chicago style. There are rules and guidelines on the formatting of the essay that one needs to follow inorder for that paper to be properly presented to either a professor or board of professionals, to make sure that paper or journal meets the standards of quality or validity. But just like writing an essay, following coding standards is a must to present your code to future employers, as the quality of your code not only reflects your skill as a software engineer, but your effectiveness as well.
A Helping Hand
As mentioned previously, I have used programs similar to ESlint called Checkstyle for Java. Both are similar as they help enforce and correct bad coding practices. Just like ESlint, Checkstyle lets you know if you have any unused variables, unclosed files, incorrect spacing between codes, and etc. Using ESlint and Checkstyle brings peace of mind when writing code either for the first time or after years of practice. It is like having a personal peer reviewer on hand all the time. I noticed that cloud based coding sites like JSFiddle, only has tidy, which helps with indentation and spacing of the code, but doesn’t offer much else with regards to coding standards. But IDEs like Eclipse or Intellij not only have the ability to use programs like ESlint, but also have other features like auto filling for quicker coding. Another useful application of using an IDE is the seamless connection between local and online uploading and downloading with using programs like Github and Github desktop.
Looking Professional
Overall, using IDEs with some kind of program that helps implement coding standards like ESlint or checkstyle is just another useful tool for the up and coming software engineer. Not only coding standards will help condition your skills, but also make your code look professional to either professors or interviewers. Following coding standards will also make your code cleaner and a lot easier to read by yourself or by others. It took me a while to get used to correcting my code when I started using Checkstyle or ESlint. But after finally using it, not only I didn’t get any points marked off of my assignments, but it made my code legible to where if I made an error, it helped by pointing out which line and at most times what the error was about. With enough practice, hopefully the coding standards with be burned into my brain, where I will have almost a built in checkstyle or ESlint when coding either with an IDE or on cloud based sites.