A quick note on .editorconfig

I really love good code indentation. And writing a good code starts from a good indentation. While this is a conscious effort, your editor can make it very easy. And that is where EditorConfig comes in. EditorConfig allows you define style rules an editor should adhere to. This makes it easy to have a consistent style even across editors.

In its simplest form, you create an “.editorconfig” file that will contain the rules in your source directory. (This means you can have different rules for different projects/directory). Here is the EditorConfig file for a sample project:

root = true

[*]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2
end_of_line = lf
charset = utf-8
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
insert_final_newline = true

[*.md]
trim_trailing_whitespace = false

As you will notice, the syntax is simple and self-explanatory. The rule simply says - for all file types (*), use 2 spaces for indentation, remove trailing spaces and end the file with a new line. For .md (markdown) files, don’t remove trailing spaces. (Remember, trailing spaces in markdown is used to differentiate line breaks and paragraphs). Here is a complete list of EditorConfig properties.

Note however that not all editors have inbuilt support for these rules. Yet. But there are plugins you can install to enable it. For Sublime text (my editor on Mac), you can install EditorConfig via Package control. If you don’t have Package control, see installation details here. For Notepad++ (my editor on Windows), see installation details here.

The real beauty of EditorConfig comes when you work in a team. Because individuals have their own indentation style, it is easy to have a mix of different styles. Some will use tabs for indentation, others spaces. (I recommend spaces). Even for spaces, some will use 2 spaces, others 4. Editorconfig can help achieve a unique style across shared codes. A style can be agreed on, the EditorConfig file created based on that style and everyone ensures his/her editor is enabled for EditorConfig.

Notes:

• While EditorConfig aims at allowing setting a consistent code “style”, I emphasized “indentation” in this post. Code style is a broader term. This include things like how brackets, arguments, control structures, keywords and closures are written, in what case (lower, upper, sentence) and how spaces should come in. EditorConfig won’t take care of this for you. That is something a developer or a team should agree on. If you are using PHP for example, the PSR2 coding style is a good guide.
• My use of the term “editors” in this post also include IDEs.