Linting and Formatting

Linting and formatting are essential components in ensuring best practices, security, readability, and efficiency. They play a vital role in different areas of the DevOps cycle.

Best Practices: No engineer, regardless of skill level, can remember all best practices for languages and tools like Go, Terraform, Ansible, Helm and so on. Linters step in here, offering reminders when code deviates from these best practices.

Security: Similarly, it's not feasible for an engineer to recall every potential security vulnerability. Linters help by flagging code that may introduce security risks, assisting in maintaining a secure codebase.

Readability: Consistent formatting enhances the readability and maintainability of code. Formatters automate this process, ensuring all code adheres to a uniform style.

Efficiency: Linters and formatters not only identify issues but can also fix many of them automatically. This automation reduces the amount of manual work needed and streamlines code reviews, eliminating debates over code formatting.

As we apply the "Everything as Code" philosophy, the need for linting and formatting extends beyond application code. Markdown files, YAML files, Helm charts, Terraform code, Ansible code and so on should all be subject to the same level of linting and formatting. In this way, we maintain consistency and high standards across all project components.