When I write
var x = function(){alert(“Hello”)}

Lint shows me errors like:
Expected exactly one space between ‘function’ and ‘(‘.
Expected exactly one space between ‘)’ and ‘{‘.
Missing space between ‘)’ and ‘{‘.

Can any body let me know why these spaces are needed.

IMO what we really need are text editors that allow the use of “style guides”. Preferably so that different developers can choose between different styles on the fly, even create their own set. Not just individualize coloring as many editors already allow us to do.

And when I finish my coding, things should be reformatted using the teams style guide.

The question then is discovering what is more readable. I completely disagree with those that claim that readability is subjective and differs from person to person. Readability is objective and could theoretically be measured. Something is more readable if it is more easily comprehended by the most people. You could measure how fast and easily people comprehend various variations of code.

I’m not suggesting that such measurements are being performed or will ever be performed, but just stressing that readability is not subjective. So without objective measurements we have to apply logic to try to reason what is more readable for the greatest number of persons.

For example the convention that in C-style languages you use braces ALWAYS even for single statements is one that we can logically assume is more readable to the greatest number of people. You have a convention that basically visually tells a reader that there is a variation from straight through code flow. It also is more maintainable.

There are a number of other ways to evaluate whether something is more readable. If a coding convention goes against more readable it sometimes should not be followed.

The C-style for loop has always been a nightmare from a readability standpoint. I don’t agree that smooshing the ; next the parenthesis makes it more readable. In this case I might lean to changing to a while loop and moving the increment to the bottom of the loop.

Of course your readability would also be improved by avoiding the “hidden brace” style and move that opening brace to its own line 😉

I think people are forgetting that a preference differs slightly than a convention, in that you’re adopting your own style, not a codified “way” of doing things.

Google for “coding conventions javascript” and you’ll see many codified ways of writing JS.