Everyone’s parents are different. Some are more on the less involved side, and some are very involved. My parents love to stay involved but know when to give me space. My connection to my parents is how I would describe my work ethic with coding standards. Coding standards have the right amount of involvement when I code. It only corrects me on things that I should already know, but made a mistake on. If I didn’t know something like I put a let variable instead of a const variable or forgot to put a parenthesis, it will tell me what I did wrong. If my letters and words aren’t spaced correctly, it will also let me know and then fix it. Every little thing makes a difference with coding standards because it basically wants you to write the best code possible.
I was just introduced to IntelliJ and I use the installment called ESLint. I also learned how to connect IntelliJ to my GitHub desktop for repository uses. I honestly thought that IntelliJ was going to be a twin to Eclipse (an IDE I used in 111 & 211). It is alike, but more complex. The console doesn’t show up on the bottom of the screen like Eclipse does. Instead, you have to make an html file and create a source to direct you to the internet and then inspect the code to see the console. This does make life a litte harder when you’re trying to check your code frequently. To make sure your changes get updated to GitHub, it is essential to put it in the same directory path. I made that mistake and took 20 minutes trying to change the paths, but ended up restarting. 10/10 don’t recommend missing little details otherwise you’ll end up wasting 20 minutes pressing buttons like me trying to figure it out.
ESLint is a new tool I haven’t used before. With the ESLint extension, you know your code is complete when you have a green check mark in the top right of your code. Something that my professor reminded us about was that the green mark could also mean ESLint wasn’t running. I have to say that this caught me the first time because I thought I was fine and didn’t have any errors, but was definitely wrong. It was confusing at first, but with more repitition and practice, I went through the steps in my head to enable ESLint to run smoothly. When something in your code is wrong, it shows a red squigly line under it. I tend to overthink sometimes and wonder if I need to rename it or use different syntax when it was literally just a space I needed. The coding standards not only keep your work free of all types of errors, it also keeps your work tidy. Some may think it is naggy or petty, but I appreciate it because it is making my work look more professional in a sense.
My overall experience with both IntelliJ and ESLint is great so far. I ran into many, and I mean many hurdles. Hurdles I didn’t even think were possible for me to run into, but somehow I managed to find them. I still wouldn’t change it, though, because without those mistakes, I wouldn’t understand why I did a certain action. I would be just following what my professor said to do and not actually learning. You can’t grow your knowledge if you don’t make mistakes. That’s why I like using ESLint because it doesn’t let me fall into lazy habits and it corrects me on the little things. I am getting closer to thinking with the computer instead of thinking about what can a computer understand. As a coder, I feel like understanding the reason why something didn’t work is more important than just going through the motions getting everything perfect.