The Changelog · September 20, 2025 · 65m

ESLint: 10 Years of JavaScript Linting

Nicholas Zakas reflects on 10 years of ESLint: the challenges of maintaining a critical open source tool, the evolution of the JavaScript ecosystem, and the future of linting in an AI era.

Canon

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Linters as development environment designers — ESLint shapes how JavaScript is written

ESLint is literally an environment designer for JavaScript development: by defining what code is acceptable, ESLint shapes how millions of developers write code.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

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The meaning of maintaining critical infrastructure — open source as responsibility

Zakas describes the weight of maintaining a tool used by millions: every bug affects millions of builds. Every breaking change disrupts millions of workflows. The responsibility is immense but meaningful.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini