Jake Worth

Auto-formatting code is good, and you should be doing it all the time. Why? It helps you write better code in real-time, it preempts trivial discussions, and it helps democratize programming.

Better Code in Real-time

First, writing better code in real-time: I’ll use the Prettier auto-formatter as an example. I have Prettier running everywhere, auto-formatting on write. This means that each time I write my file, which I do a lot, Prettier attempts to format my code. Neatening my work as I go along helps me think clearly and see refactoring opportunities.

There’s an amazing side-effect: if my code isn’t compilable code, Prettier can’t format it. When I save a file and Prettier doesn’t adjust the code, I know my code isn’t compilable. Instead of viewing an error in the logs or the browser console, I get instant feedback that something is wrong.

Preempts Trivial Discussions

Secondly, auto-formatting flattens the amount of trivial style debates on teams. Before auto-formatters became widely used on the frontend, many conversations centered on subjective style preferences. Do we include a trailing commas? Tabs or spaces 😈? Code isn’t a style showcase; it’s a tool to provide customer value. From that perspective, most distinctions like this do not matter.

Democratizes Programming

Finally, I think auto-formatters help democratize programming. Early in my career, I wrote Ruby, a stylistically permissive language. As a result, I honed strong opinions about styles. I believed code should be written in one style, and I proudly enforced the rules. I liked that you could recognize a seasoned Rubyist by how they formatted their code.

Nowadays, I’m more interested in what the code does. I think of autoformatting like a uniform: when everybody looks the same, appearance becomes less important than action. Auto-formatters give us an opportunity to make code about features, rather than knowing and expertly following a long list of unwritten rules.

Community-Level Support

I love how communities like Elixir and Go introduced built-in formatters. Proposed features on such projects are generally about behavior and strategy, not tactical style. What a gift! Compare that to teams bikeshedding trivial style choices, maintaining long configuration files that enforce an ever-changing set of rules. Who’s doing better work? Who’s having more fun?

I spoke about this at ElixirDaze 2018, advocating for Elixir’s then new autoformatter. As time has passed, that strategic decision has aged very well.

Auto-formatting is good. Beyond the above arguments, auto-formatters save me untold keystrokes that I’d waste pushing characters around. Install an autoformatter and write better code, reduce meaningless debate, and make programming more accessible.

What are your thoughts on this? Let me know!