- Not having to format my code manually at all, just letting the formatter do it for me, is a significant productivity win. I write code as fast as I can, with the minimum number of key strokes, in a way that would normally be super ugly, and it comes out the same. I have my editor setup to auto-format the current file on save, so it’s just type a bit of code with zero formatting, cmd+s, then it’s instantly perfectly formatted
- For a codebase with 10s or 100s of devs working on it, uniform formatting does significantly help readability. Sure I can still read it if there’s dozens of different formatting styles going on, but I can read it faster if the formatting is always consistent
- Re: the above, yes you can keep consistent formatting without a code formatter, with a style guide that everyone learns, and that you enforce in code reviews. But that’s a waste of time both for on-boarding new devs, and a basically neverending waste of time during code reviews. Also a waste of time writing and maintaining the style guide itself
The first point helps me write faster, the second helps me read faster, and the third keeps code reviews and the like quicker.
Code formatters are such a clear, easy win, especially with large teams, that it’s hard for me to understand why anyone would opt out of them. It’s not a MASSIVE win, but IMO it clearly makes for a more productive development environment, and they’re generally dead simple to setup.
I have worked on teams that do automatic formatting and others that didn't. I have never seen any advantage of automatic formatting. In my experience, people who like to complain about simple things like where to put braces or where to break a line will move the goal posts and start to complain about particular parameters of the formatter, or try to change the formatter to something "more powerful". People who don't care about location of braces will continue working without problems, and everything will be the same as before, just with the added complexity.
The point is not that any one code formatting style is best, the point is that consistency in formatting across a codebase helps you read code faster. Our eyes and brains are good at picking up patterns - consistent patterns lets our brains parse code faster than if every file is written in a different style.
Furthermore, not worrying at all about indentation, spacing, brace placement, semicolons or not, etc. lets me write code faster, not just read it faster. Type it out with zero effort expended on formatting, save, editor auto-formats.
It’s not that any of this saves crazy amounts of time, but it does make all of code writing, code reading and code reviews slightly faster. When it’s so easy to setup, why not do it?
The only argument I can see against auto-formatters is that people like to put their own artistic touch on the code they write. I get that, but it wastes time, especially when everyone starts doing things in their own style.
I’ve been working professionally as a dev for 9 years, also on teams that use auto-formatters, and teams that don’t. I think they’re a small but clear productivity booster. The only time I’d consider not using one is in languages where the formatter itself is super slow. But fast ones, where you can setup nearly instantaneous “format on save” (go fmt, prettier, etc.), no brainer.
- Not having to format my code manually at all, just letting the formatter do it for me, is a significant productivity win. I write code as fast as I can, with the minimum number of key strokes, in a way that would normally be super ugly, and it comes out the same. I have my editor setup to auto-format the current file on save, so it’s just type a bit of code with zero formatting, cmd+s, then it’s instantly perfectly formatted
- For a codebase with 10s or 100s of devs working on it, uniform formatting does significantly help readability. Sure I can still read it if there’s dozens of different formatting styles going on, but I can read it faster if the formatting is always consistent
- Re: the above, yes you can keep consistent formatting without a code formatter, with a style guide that everyone learns, and that you enforce in code reviews. But that’s a waste of time both for on-boarding new devs, and a basically neverending waste of time during code reviews. Also a waste of time writing and maintaining the style guide itself
The first point helps me write faster, the second helps me read faster, and the third keeps code reviews and the like quicker.
Code formatters are such a clear, easy win, especially with large teams, that it’s hard for me to understand why anyone would opt out of them. It’s not a MASSIVE win, but IMO it clearly makes for a more productive development environment, and they’re generally dead simple to setup.