Trivia Tuesday: Linter

[Ken W. Alger]

The term "linter", which is any static analysis tool that inspects code to flag programming errors, syntax issues, and potential suspicious constructs, originates from who?

A. Douglas Crockford
B. Nicholas C. Zakas
C. Stephen C. Johnson
D. Scott Hanselman

Do you know the answer? Do you know the story? Let's hear it below

[davidn#]

The term "linter" in the context of software development originated from a program called "lint," which was created in the early 1970s at Bell Labs by Stephen C. Johnson. The name "lint" is believed to be a portmanteau of "line" and "interpreter," reflecting its function as a tool to analyze and check the code for potential issues and errors on a line-by-line basis.

Lint was designed to analyze code written in the C programming language and help developers catch common programming mistakes and coding style issues. It would examine the source code and provide feedback or warnings about potential problems, such as uninitialized variables, syntax errors, or ambiguous constructs.

Over time, similar tools were developed for other programming languages, and the term "linter" became a more generalized term to refer to any tool or program that performs static code analysis to detect issues and improve code quality. Linters are now widely used in various programming languages and have become an essential part of the software development process, helping developers write cleaner, more reliable code.