What is Linting? — UK Software Development Guide
Direct Answer
Linting is the automated static analysis of source code to identify programming errors, bugs, stylistic issues, and suspicious constructs. A linter is a tool that applies a set of rules to source code and reports violations. Common linters: ESLint (JavaScript/TypeScript), Pylint or Flake8 (Python), RuboCop (Ruby). Most linters integrate with IDEs (showing errors as you type) and CI/CD pipelines (failing builds with linting errors).
Linting in the UK
Linting has specific UK compliance value for security. ESLint security plugins (eslint-plugin-security, eslint-plugin-no-secrets) detect common JavaScript security vulnerabilities: prototype pollution, eval() usage, hardcoded credentials, and unsafe regular expressions. These security linting rules directly support Cyber Essentials secure configuration requirements and UK GDPR Article 32 appropriate technical measures. ClickMasters configures security-focused linting rules for all JavaScript/TypeScript projects and Bandit (Python security linter) for Python projects — both run in CI/CD on every PR.
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