Coding Standards with IntelliJ
Over the course of the past four weeks, JSFiddle and IntelliJ have been used to learn Javascript, as well as how to implement the Underscore library. While JSFiddle was a very primitive type of development environment, it was also very simple. Not many configurations were required by the user, and adding external items (i.e. Underscore library) was very simple. On the other hand, IntelliJ is the polar opposite of JSFiddle. IntelliJ is an application downloaded to the user’s machine, and there is a plethora of options and configurations that can be applied.
While the IntelliJ was a useful desktop application, the is also a vast amount of ways in which one could configure the settings. There were various options, such as utilizing eslint to implement coding standards, which was used during the experience with IntelliJ. The file would give instructions to IntelliJ on how the code should be formatted within a file. For example, no extra blank lines between a curly brace and a new line of code, spaces between certain items, and so forth. I felt that having this feature was a bit cumbersome, but somewhat useful when it came to eliminating unnecessary items in code, such as extra blank lines.
The biggest adjustments that had to be made with IntelliJ was the configuration of a new project and adding all the files and their paths. With JSFiddle, adding an external library, such as a database, was as easy as just inputting a link into the external resources area. IntelliJ, on the other hand, required the Underscore library be added via an extra HTML file containing the URL link within the same folder as the working JavaScript file. This was a bit inconvenient, though not difficult.
Also, combining IntelliJ with the GitHub Desktop application, helps to keep all Github related projects contained in on directory, thus enhancing organization. Personally, this required setup was a little odd at first, as I organize my files and directories by course.
Overall, the experience with using IntelliJ was useful, though it felt a bit rushed. However, after using IntelliJ, and other variations such as PyCharm for other courses, I found the organization and configurations to be extremely useful. Having all of my Github files in one place ended up enhancing my organization over time. Eslint was useful for other personal and group projects that followed. The overall format for navigating files also eased the process of importing a file in several others, implementing a similar changes across multiple files, file name changes and so forth. IntelliJ proved useful for big projects, however, due to having a myriad of configurations, it feels a bit excessive for smaller, beginner projects.