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Learn how to use ESLint to automatically format your code on save in VSCode. This step-by-step guide shows you how to set up your editor to save time and ensure consistent formatting.

If you’re a developer, you know how important it is to write clean, well-formatted code. Not only does it make your code easier to read and understand, but it can also improve its maintainability and reduce the likelihood of bugs. One tool that can help you achieve this is ESLint, a popular linting tool for JavaScript. In this post, we’ll show you how to use ESLint to automatically format your code on save in VSCode.

What is ESLint?

ESLint is a tool that analyzes your JavaScript code and identifies potential issues and errors based on a set of rules. It can catch common mistakes like unused variables, undefined variables, and syntax errors, as well as enforce coding standards like consistent spacing, indentation, and naming conventions.

One of the great things about ESLint is that it’s highly configurable. You can choose which rules to enable or disable, set severity levels for each rule, and even create your own custom rules.

Why format code on save?

Formatting your code can be a time-consuming and tedious task, especially if you’re working on a large codebase. That’s why it’s a good idea to automate it as much as possible. One way to do this is to format your code on save.

By setting up your code editor to automatically format your code when you save a file, you can save yourself time and effort, and ensure that your code is always formatted consistently. This can be particularly helpful if you’re working on a team, where everyone has their own formatting preferences.

Setting up ESLint in VSCode

To use ESLint in VSCode, you’ll need to install the ESLint extension from the VSCode Marketplace. Once you’ve installed the extension, you’ll need to configure it to format your code on save.

  1. Open your VSCode settings by clicking on the gear icon in the bottom left corner of the editor, or by pressing Ctrl + ,.

  2. In the search bar at the top, type “editor.codeActionsOnSave”.

  3. Click on “Edit in settings.json”. This will open your VSCode settings.json file.

  4. Add the following lines to your settings.json file:

    "editor.codeActionsOnSave": { "source.fixAll.eslint": true},
"eslint.alwaysShowStatus": true

  5. Save your settings.json file and you’re done! This tells VSCode to run ESLint’s automatic code fixing whenever you save a file. The alwaysShowStatus option will show you the ESLint status for the current file in the status bar.

Now whenever you save a file, ESLint will automatically format your code based on the rules you’ve configured. If there are any issues that ESLint can’t automatically fix, it will show you a warning in the status bar.

Conclusion

By using ESLint to format your code on save in VSCode, you can save yourself time and effort, and ensure that your code is always well-formatted and consistent. This can help improve your code’s readability, maintainability, and reduce the likelihood of bugs. So go ahead and give it a try!