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  4. Code Review
  5. ESLint vs PMD

ESLint vs PMD

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

ESLint
ESLint
Stacks38.6K
Followers14.0K
Votes28
GitHub Stars26.6K
Forks4.8K
PMD
PMD
Stacks46
Followers111
Votes0
GitHub Stars5.2K
Forks1.5K

ESLint vs PMD: What are the differences?

Introduction

ESLint and PMD are both code analysis tools that help developers identify and fix potential issues in their code. While they serve a similar purpose, there are some key differences between the two.

  1. Integration with Languages: One major difference between ESLint and PMD is the languages they support. ESLint is primarily designed for JavaScript code analysis and can be extended for JSX and TypeScript as well. On the other hand, PMD is mainly focused on Java code analysis and supports other languages like Apex, XML, and SQL.

  2. Configurability: ESLint offers a high level of configurability, allowing developers to define their own linting rules and customize their analysis process. It provides various options for rule customization and allows developers to create their own plugins. PMD, on the other hand, has a predefined set of rules that cannot be customized as extensively as in ESLint. It offers limited options for rule configuration.

  3. Ecosystem and Community Support: ESLint has a large and active community, with a wide range of plugins and integrations available. It is widely adopted and used in many popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries. PMD, on the other hand, has a smaller and relatively less active community compared to ESLint. It may have limited support for some niche frameworks and libraries.

  4. Rule Sets and Checks: ESLint provides a comprehensive set of rules that cover various aspects of JavaScript code analysis. It checks for common coding mistakes, coding styles, and possible bugs. PMD also offers a set of rules for code analysis, but it focuses more on coding styles and best practices. It may not cover certain advanced code analysis checks provided by ESLint.

  5. Integration with Build Tools: ESLint integrates well with popular build tools like webpack, Grunt, and Gulp. It can be easily integrated into the development workflow, providing real-time feedback and analysis during the development process. PMD, on the other hand, may require additional setup and configuration to integrate with build tools. It may not provide seamless integration out of the box.

  6. IDE Support: ESLint is well-supported by various Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and code editors, providing inline feedback and suggestions while writing code. It has plugins available for popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, and Sublime Text. PMD, on the other hand, may have limited IDE support compared to ESLint. It may not provide the same level of real-time feedback and suggestions in all IDEs.

In summary, ESLint and PMD are both code analysis tools, but they have key differences in terms of language support, configurability, ecosystem and community support, rule sets, integration with build tools, and IDE support.

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Advice on ESLint, PMD

Carlos
Carlos

Mar 14, 2020

Needs adviceonPrettierPrettierESLintESLintgulpgulp

Scenario: I want to integrate Prettier in our code base which is currently using ESLint (for .js and .scss both). The project is using gulp.

It doesn't feel quite right to me to use ESLint, I wonder if it would be better to use Stylelint or Sass Lint instead.

I completed integrating ESLint + Prettier, Planning to do the same with [ Stylelint || Sasslint || EsLint] + Prettier.

And have gulp 'fix' on file save (Watcher).

Any recommendation is appreciated.

465k views465k
Comments
Alex
Alex

Software Engineer

Aug 7, 2020

Review

you don't actually have to choose between these tools as they have vastly different purposes. i think its more a matter of understanding how to use them.

while eslint and stylelint are used to notify you about code quality issues, to guide you to write better code, prettier automatically handles code formatting (without notifying me). nothing else.

prettier and eslint both officially discourage using the eslint-plugin-prettier way, as these tools actually do very different things. autofixing with linters on watch isnt a great idea either. auto-fixing should only be done intentionally. you're not alone though, as a lot of devs set this up wrong.

i encourage you to think about what problem you're trying to solve and configure accordingly.

for my teams i set it up like this:

  • eslint, stylelint, prettier locally installed for cli use and ide support
  • eslint config prettier (code formatting rules are not eslints business, so dont warn me about it)
  • vscode workspace config: format on save
  • separate npm scripts for linting, and formatting
  • precommit hooks (husky)

so you can easily integrate with gulp. its just js after all ;)

159k views159k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

ESLint
ESLint
PMD
PMD

A pluggable and configurable linter tool for identifying and reporting on patterns in JavaScript. Maintain your code quality with ease.

It is a source code analyzer. It finds common programming flaws like unused variables, empty catch blocks, unnecessary object creation, and so forth. It includes CPD, the copy-paste-detector.

-
supports multiple languages; enforce a coding standard for your codebase; built-in checks
Statistics
GitHub Stars
26.6K
GitHub Stars
5.2K
GitHub Forks
4.8K
GitHub Forks
1.5K
Stacks
38.6K
Stacks
46
Followers
14.0K
Followers
111
Votes
28
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 8
    Consistent javascript - opinions don't matter anymore
  • 6
    Free
  • 6
    IDE Integration
  • 4
    Customizable
  • 2
    Focuses code review on quality not style
No community feedback yet
Integrations
JavaScript
JavaScript
Gradle
Gradle
Windows
Windows
Java
Java
Linux
Linux
macOS
macOS

What are some alternatives to ESLint, PMD?

Code Climate

Code Climate

After each Git push, Code Climate analyzes your code for complexity, duplication, and common smells to determine changes in quality and surface technical debt hotspots.

Codacy

Codacy

Codacy automates code reviews and monitors code quality on every commit and pull request on more than 40 programming languages reporting back the impact of every commit or PR, issues concerning code style, best practices and security.

Phabricator

Phabricator

Phabricator is a collection of open source web applications that help software companies build better software.

PullReview

PullReview

PullReview helps Ruby and Rails developers to develop new features cleanly, on-time, and with confidence by automatically reviewing their code.

Gerrit Code Review

Gerrit Code Review

Gerrit is a self-hosted pre-commit code review tool. It serves as a Git hosting server with option to comment incoming changes. It is highly configurable and extensible with default guarding policies, webhooks, project access control and more.

SonarQube

SonarQube

SonarQube provides an overview of the overall health of your source code and even more importantly, it highlights issues found on new code. With a Quality Gate set on your project, you will simply fix the Leak and start mechanically improving.

RuboCop

RuboCop

RuboCop is a Ruby static code analyzer. Out of the box it will enforce many of the guidelines outlined in the community Ruby Style Guide.

CodeFactor.io

CodeFactor.io

CodeFactor.io automatically and continuously tracks code quality with every GitHub or BitBucket commit and pull request, helping software developers save time in code reviews and efficiently tackle technical debt.

Amazon CodeGuru

Amazon CodeGuru

It is a machine learning service for automated code reviews and application performance recommendations. It helps you find the most expensive lines of code that hurt application performance and keep you up all night troubleshooting, then gives you specific recommendations to fix or improve your code.

Reviewable

Reviewable

A code review tool for GitHub pull requests inspired by Google's internal tool. Powerful diffing and workflow features wrapped in a beautiful UI, with seamless GitHub integration. Free for public repos.

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