Disallow Unused Variables (no-unused-vars)

Variables that are declared and not used anywhere in the code are most likely an error due to incomplete refactoring. Such variables take up space in the code and can lead to confusion by readers.

Rule Details

This rule is aimed at eliminating unused variables, functions, and function parameters.

A variable foo is considered to be used if any of the following are true:

• It is called (foo()) or constructed (new foo())
• It is read (var bar = foo)
• It is passed into a function as an argument (doSomething(foo))
• It is read inside of a function that is passed to another function (doSomething(function() { foo(); }))

A variable is not considered to be used if it is only ever declared (var foo = 5) or assigned to (foo = 7).

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: "error"*/
/*global some_unused_var*/

// It checks variables you have defined as global
some_unused_var = 42;

var x;

// Write-only variables are not considered as used.
var y = 10;
y = 5;

// A read for a modification of itself is not considered as used.
var z = 0;
z = z + 1;

// By default, unused arguments cause warnings.
(function(foo) {
    return 5;
})();

// Unused recursive functions also cause warnings.
function fact(n) {
    if (n < 2) return 1;
    return n * fact(n - 1);
}

// When a function definition destructures an array, unused entries from the array also cause warnings.
function getY([x, y]) {
    return y;
}

Examples of correct code for this rule:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: "error"*/

var x = 10;
alert(x);

// foo is considered used here
myFunc(function foo() {
    // ...
}.bind(this));

(function(foo) {
    return foo;
})();

var myFunc;
myFunc = setTimeout(function() {
    // myFunc is considered used
    myFunc();
}, 50);

// Only the second argument from the descructured array is used.
function getY([, y]) {
    return y;
}

exported

In environments outside of CommonJS or ECMAScript modules, you may use var to create a global variable that may be used by other scripts. You can use the /* exported variableName */ comment block to indicate that this variable is being exported and therefore should not be considered unused.

Note that /* exported */ has no effect for any of the following:

• when the environment is node or commonjs
• when parserOptions.sourceType is module
• when ecmaFeatures.globalReturn is true

The line comment // exported variableName will not work as exported is not line-specific.

Examples of correct code for /* exported variableName */ operation:

/* exported global_var */

var global_var = 42;

Options

This rule takes one argument which can be a string or an object. The string settings are the same as those of the vars property (explained below).

By default this rule is enabled with all option for variables and after-used for arguments.

{
    "rules": {
        "no-unused-vars": ["error", { "vars": "all", "args": "after-used", "ignoreRestSiblings": false }]
    }
}

vars

The vars option has two settings:

• all checks all variables for usage, including those in the global scope. This is the default setting.
• local checks only that locally-declared variables are used but will allow global variables to be unused.

vars: local

Examples of correct code for the { "vars": "local" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "vars": "local" }]*/
/*global some_unused_var */

some_unused_var = 42;

varsIgnorePattern

The varsIgnorePattern option specifies exceptions not to check for usage: variables whose names match a regexp pattern. For example, variables whose names contain ignored or Ignored.

Examples of correct code for the { "varsIgnorePattern": "[iI]gnored" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "varsIgnorePattern": "[iI]gnored" }]*/

var firstVarIgnored = 1;
var secondVar = 2;
console.log(secondVar);

args

The args option has three settings:

• after-used - unused positional arguments that occur before the last used argument will not be checked, but all named arguments and all positional arguments after the last used argument will be checked.
• all - all named arguments must be used.
• none - do not check arguments.

args: after-used

Examples of incorrect code for the default { "args": "after-used" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "args": "after-used" }]*/

// 2 errors, for the parameters after the last used parameter (bar)
// "baz" is defined but never used
// "qux" is defined but never used
(function(foo, bar, baz, qux) {
    return bar;
})();

Examples of correct code for the default { "args": "after-used" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", {"args": "after-used"}]*/

(function(foo, bar, baz, qux) {
    return qux;
})();

args: all

Examples of incorrect code for the { "args": "all" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "args": "all" }]*/

// 2 errors
// "foo" is defined but never used
// "baz" is defined but never used
(function(foo, bar, baz) {
    return bar;
})();

args: none

Examples of correct code for the { "args": "none" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "args": "none" }]*/

(function(foo, bar, baz) {
    return bar;
})();

ignoreRestSiblings

The ignoreRestSiblings option is a boolean (default: false). Using a Rest Property it is possible to "omit" properties from an object, but by default the sibling properties are marked as "unused". With this option enabled the rest property's siblings are ignored.

Examples of correct code for the { "ignoreRestSiblings": true } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "ignoreRestSiblings": true }]*/
// 'type' is ignored because it has a rest property sibling.
var { type, ...coords } = data;

argsIgnorePattern

The argsIgnorePattern option specifies exceptions not to check for usage: arguments whose names match a regexp pattern. For example, variables whose names begin with an underscore.

Examples of correct code for the { "argsIgnorePattern": "^_" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "argsIgnorePattern": "^_" }]*/

function foo(x, _y) {
    return x + 1;
}
foo();

caughtErrors

The caughtErrors option is used for catch block arguments validation.

It has two settings:

• none - do not check error objects. This is the default setting.
• all - all named arguments must be used.

caughtErrors: none

Not specifying this rule is equivalent of assigning it to none.

Examples of correct code for the { "caughtErrors": "none" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "caughtErrors": "none" }]*/

try {
    //...
} catch (err) {
    console.error("errors");
}

caughtErrors: all

Examples of incorrect code for the { "caughtErrors": "all" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "caughtErrors": "all" }]*/

// 1 error
// "err" is defined but never used
try {
    //...
} catch (err) {
    console.error("errors");
}

caughtErrorsIgnorePattern

The caughtErrorsIgnorePattern option specifies exceptions not to check for usage: catch arguments whose names match a regexp pattern. For example, variables whose names begin with a string 'ignore'.

Examples of correct code for the { "caughtErrorsIgnorePattern": "^ignore" } option:

/*eslint no-unused-vars: ["error", { "caughtErrorsIgnorePattern": "^ignore" }]*/

try {
    //...
} catch (ignoreErr) {
    console.error("errors");
}

When Not To Use It

If you don't want to be notified about unused variables or function arguments, you can safely turn this rule off. Source: http://eslint.org/docs/rules/

Require parens in arrow function arguments (arrow-parens)

Arrow functions can omit parentheses when they have exactly one parameter. In all other cases the parameter(s) must be wrapped in parentheses. This rule enforces the consistent use of parentheses in arrow functions.

Rule Details

This rule enforces parentheses around arrow function parameters regardless of arity. For example:

/*eslint-env es6*/

// Bad
a => {}

// Good
(a) => {}

Following this style will help you find arrow functions (=>) which may be mistakenly included in a condition when a comparison such as >= was the intent.

/*eslint-env es6*/

// Bad
if (a => 2) {
}

// Good
if (a >= 2) {
}

The rule can also be configured to discourage the use of parens when they are not required:

/*eslint-env es6*/

// Bad
(a) => {}

// Good
a => {}

Options

This rule has a string option and an object one.

String options are:

• "always" (default) requires parens around arguments in all cases.
• "as-needed" allows omitting parens when there is only one argument.

Object properties for variants of the "as-needed" option:

• "requireForBlockBody": true modifies the as-needed rule in order to require parens if the function body is in an instructions block (surrounded by braces).

always

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the default "always" option:

/*eslint arrow-parens: ["error", "always"]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/

a => {};
a => a;
a => {'\n'};
a.then(foo => {});
a.then(foo => a);
a(foo => { if (true) {} });

Examples of correct code for this rule with the default "always" option:

/*eslint arrow-parens: ["error", "always"]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/

() => {};
(a) => {};
(a) => a;
(a) => {'\n'}
a.then((foo) => {});
a.then((foo) => { if (true) {} });

If Statements

One of benefits of this option is that it prevents the incorrect use of arrow functions in conditionals:

/*eslint-env es6*/

var a = 1;
var b = 2;
// ...
if (a => b) {
 console.log('bigger');
} else {
 console.log('smaller');
}
// outputs 'bigger', not smaller as expected

The contents of the if statement is an arrow function, not a comparison.

If the arrow function is intentional, it should be wrapped in parens to remove ambiguity.

/*eslint-env es6*/

var a = 1;
var b = 0;
// ...
if ((a) => b) {
 console.log('truthy value returned');
} else {
 console.log('falsey value returned');
}
// outputs 'truthy value returned'

The following is another example of this behavior:

/*eslint-env es6*/

var a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, d = 4;
var f = a => b ? c: d;
// f = ?

f is an arrow function which takes a as an argument and returns the result of b ? c: d.

This should be rewritten like so:

/*eslint-env es6*/

var a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, d = 4;
var f = (a) => b ? c: d;

as-needed

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the "as-needed" option:

/*eslint arrow-parens: ["error", "as-needed"]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/

(a) => {};
(a) => a;
(a) => {'\n'};
a.then((foo) => {});
a.then((foo) => a);
a((foo) => { if (true) {} });

Examples of correct code for this rule with the "as-needed" option:

/*eslint arrow-parens: ["error", "as-needed"]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/

() => {};
a => {};
a => a;
a => {'\n'};
a.then(foo => {});
a.then(foo => { if (true) {} });
(a, b, c) => a;
(a = 10) => a;
([a, b]) => a;
({a, b}) => a;

requireForBlockBody

Examples of incorrect code for the { "requireForBlockBody": true } option:

/*eslint arrow-parens: [2, "as-needed", { "requireForBlockBody": true }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/

(a) => a;
a => {};
a => {'\n'};
a.map((x) => x * x);
a.map(x => {
  return x * x;
});
a.then(foo => {});

Examples of correct code for the { "requireForBlockBody": true } option:

/*eslint arrow-parens: [2, "as-needed", { "requireForBlockBody": true }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/

(a) => {};
(a) => {'\n'};
a => ({});
() => {};
a => a;
a.then((foo) => {});
a.then((foo) => { if (true) {} });
a((foo) => { if (true) {} });
(a, b, c) => a;
(a = 10) => a;
([a, b]) => a;
({a, b}) => a;

Further Reading

• The "as-needed", { "requireForBlockBody": true } rule is directly inspired by the Airbnb JS Style Guide. Source: http://eslint.org/docs/rules/

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 51.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 47.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

For more information visit Source: http://eslint.org/docs/rules/