Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

disallow unnecessary semicolons (no-extra-semi)

Typing mistakes and misunderstandings about where semicolons are required can lead to semicolons that are unnecessary. While not technically an error, extra semicolons can cause confusion when reading code.

Rule Details

This rule disallows unnecessary semicolons.

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

/*eslint no-extra-semi: "error"*/

var x = 5;;

function foo() {
    // code
};

Examples of correct code for this rule:

/*eslint no-extra-semi: "error"*/

var x = 5;

var foo = function() {
    // code
};

When Not To Use It

If you intentionally use extra semicolons then you can disable this rule.

Related Rules

• [semi](semi.md)
• [semi-spacing](semi-spacing.md) Source: http://eslint.org/docs/rules/

Require Radix Parameter (radix)

When using the parseInt() function it is common to omit the second argument, the radix, and let the function try to determine from the first argument what type of number it is. By default, parseInt() will autodetect decimal and hexadecimal (via 0x prefix). Prior to ECMAScript 5, parseInt() also autodetected octal literals, which caused problems because many developers assumed a leading 0 would be ignored.

This confusion led to the suggestion that you always use the radix parameter to parseInt() to eliminate unintended consequences. So instead of doing this:

var num = parseInt("071");      // 57

Do this:

var num = parseInt("071", 10);  // 71

ECMAScript 5 changed the behavior of parseInt() so that it no longer autodetects octal literals and instead treats them as decimal literals. However, the differences between hexadecimal and decimal interpretation of the first parameter causes many developers to continue using the radix parameter to ensure the string is interpreted in the intended way.

On the other hand, if the code is targeting only ES5-compliant environments passing the radix 10 may be redundant. In such a case you might want to disallow using such a radix.

Rule Details

This rule is aimed at preventing the unintended conversion of a string to a number of a different base than intended or at preventing the redundant 10 radix if targeting modern environments only.

Options

There are two options for this rule:

• "always" enforces providing a radix (default)
• "as-needed" disallows providing the 10 radix

always

Examples of incorrect code for the default "always" option:

/*eslint radix: "error"*/

var num = parseInt("071");

var num = parseInt(someValue);

var num = parseInt("071", "abc");

var num = parseInt();

Examples of correct code for the default "always" option:

/*eslint radix: "error"*/

var num = parseInt("071", 10);

var num = parseInt("071", 8);

var num = parseFloat(someValue);

as-needed

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

/*eslint radix: ["error", "as-needed"]*/

var num = parseInt("071", 10);

var num = parseInt("071", "abc");

var num = parseInt();

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

/*eslint radix: ["error", "as-needed"]*/

var num = parseInt("071");

var num = parseInt("071", 8);

var num = parseFloat(someValue);

When Not To Use It

If you don't want to enforce either presence or omission of the 10 radix value you can turn this rule off.

Further Reading

• parseInt and radix Source: http://eslint.org/docs/rules/

Require Radix Parameter (radix)

When using the parseInt() function it is common to omit the second argument, the radix, and let the function try to determine from the first argument what type of number it is. By default, parseInt() will autodetect decimal and hexadecimal (via 0x prefix). Prior to ECMAScript 5, parseInt() also autodetected octal literals, which caused problems because many developers assumed a leading 0 would be ignored.

This confusion led to the suggestion that you always use the radix parameter to parseInt() to eliminate unintended consequences. So instead of doing this:

var num = parseInt("071");      // 57

Do this:

var num = parseInt("071", 10);  // 71

ECMAScript 5 changed the behavior of parseInt() so that it no longer autodetects octal literals and instead treats them as decimal literals. However, the differences between hexadecimal and decimal interpretation of the first parameter causes many developers to continue using the radix parameter to ensure the string is interpreted in the intended way.

On the other hand, if the code is targeting only ES5-compliant environments passing the radix 10 may be redundant. In such a case you might want to disallow using such a radix.

Rule Details

This rule is aimed at preventing the unintended conversion of a string to a number of a different base than intended or at preventing the redundant 10 radix if targeting modern environments only.

Options

There are two options for this rule:

• "always" enforces providing a radix (default)
• "as-needed" disallows providing the 10 radix

always

Examples of incorrect code for the default "always" option:

/*eslint radix: "error"*/

var num = parseInt("071");

var num = parseInt(someValue);

var num = parseInt("071", "abc");

var num = parseInt();

Examples of correct code for the default "always" option:

/*eslint radix: "error"*/

var num = parseInt("071", 10);

var num = parseInt("071", 8);

var num = parseFloat(someValue);

as-needed

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

/*eslint radix: ["error", "as-needed"]*/

var num = parseInt("071", 10);

var num = parseInt("071", "abc");

var num = parseInt();

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

/*eslint radix: ["error", "as-needed"]*/

var num = parseInt("071");

var num = parseInt("071", 8);

var num = parseFloat(someValue);

When Not To Use It

If you don't want to enforce either presence or omission of the 10 radix value you can turn this rule off.

Further Reading

• parseInt and radix Source: http://eslint.org/docs/rules/

Require IIFEs to be Wrapped (wrap-iife)

You can immediately invoke function expressions, but not function declarations. A common technique to create an immediately-invoked function expression (IIFE) is to wrap a function declaration in parentheses. The opening parentheses causes the contained function to be parsed as an expression, rather than a declaration.

// function expression could be unwrapped
var x = function () { return { y: 1 };}();

// function declaration must be wrapped
function () { /* side effects */ }(); // SyntaxError

Rule Details

This rule requires all immediately-invoked function expressions to be wrapped in parentheses.

Options

This rule has two options, a string option and an object option.

String option:

• "outside" enforces always wrapping the call expression. The default is "outside".
• "inside" enforces always wrapping the function expression.
• "any" enforces always wrapping, but allows either style.

Object option:

• "functionPrototypeMethods": true additionally enforces wrapping function expressions invoked using .call and .apply. The default is false.

outside

Examples of incorrect code for the default "outside" option:

/*eslint wrap-iife: ["error", "outside"]*/

var x = function () { return { y: 1 };}(); // unwrapped
var x = (function () { return { y: 1 };})(); // wrapped function expression

Examples of correct code for the default "outside" option:

/*eslint wrap-iife: ["error", "outside"]*/

var x = (function () { return { y: 1 };}()); // wrapped call expression

inside

Examples of incorrect code for the "inside" option:

/*eslint wrap-iife: ["error", "inside"]*/

var x = function () { return { y: 1 };}(); // unwrapped
var x = (function () { return { y: 1 };}()); // wrapped call expression

Examples of correct code for the "inside" option:

/*eslint wrap-iife: ["error", "inside"]*/

var x = (function () { return { y: 1 };})(); // wrapped function expression

any

Examples of incorrect code for the "any" option:

/*eslint wrap-iife: ["error", "any"]*/

var x = function () { return { y: 1 };}(); // unwrapped

Examples of correct code for the "any" option:

/*eslint wrap-iife: ["error", "any"]*/

var x = (function () { return { y: 1 };}()); // wrapped call expression
var x = (function () { return { y: 1 };})(); // wrapped function expression

functionPrototypeMethods

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the "inside", { "functionPrototypeMethods": true } options:

/* eslint wrap-iife: [2, "inside", { functionPrototypeMethods: true }] */

var x = function(){ foo(); }()
var x = (function(){ foo(); }())
var x = function(){ foo(); }.call(bar)
var x = (function(){ foo(); }.call(bar))

Examples of correct code for this rule with the "inside", { "functionPrototypeMethods": true } options:

/* eslint wrap-iife: [2, "inside", { functionPrototypeMethods: true }] */

var x = (function(){ foo(); })()
var x = (function(){ foo(); }).call(bar)

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 68.

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 68.

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