It seems like prettier is becoming very popular. https://github.com/prettier/prettier

I don't like it. I don't like the whole "rewrite from AST" approach. I prefer a formatter with a lighter touch, that fixes a my mistakes, but also trusts me.

Yes, wrap that long line. But no, don't unwrap those short lines, I did that on purpose. Or I wanted an extra new line there. Or these variables are a matrix, don't reformat them, and don't make me add an ugly comment to turn you off.

I'm starting to feel like I'm alone in this though, that there's a pro-prettier movement, but not an anti-prettier movement (or a pro some-other-tool movement).

Anyone feel the same way? What tools do you use instead, if any? How do you deal with teammates pressuring you to use prettier?

I've been looking at the times when I had a big jump forward and it always seems to be when someone pretty knowledgeable or experienced talks about something that seems obvious to them. So let's optimize for that.

People who know their shit but don't have the time or inclination to make content etc, what "facts of life" do you think are integral to your ability to write good code. (E.g. writing pseudo-code first, thinking in patterns, TDD, etc). Or, inversely, what gets in the way? (E.g. obsessing over architecture, NIH syndrome, bad specs)

Anyone who has any wisdom borne of experience, no matter how mundane, I'd love to hear it. There's far too much "you should do this" advice online that doesn't seem to have battle-tested in the real world.

EDIT: Some great responses already, many of them boil down to KISS, YAGNI etc but it's really great to see specific examples rather than people just throwing acronyms at one another.

Here are some of the re-occurring pieces of advice

• Test your shit (lots of recommendations for TDD)

• Understand and document/plan your code before you write it. ("writing is thinking" /u/gitcommitshow)

• Related: get input on your plans before you start coding

• Write it, then refactor it: done is better than perfect, work iteratively. (or as /u/commitpushdrink says: "Make it work, make it fast, make it pretty)

• Prioritize readability, avoid "clever" one-liners (KISS) (/u/rebby_the_nerd: If it was hard to write, it will be even harder to debug)

• Bad/excessive abstraction is worse than imperative code (KISS)

• Read "The Pragmatic Programmer"

• Don't overengineer, don't optimize prematurely (KISS, YAGNI again)

• "Comments are lies waiting to be told" - write expressive code

• Remember to be a team player, help out, mentor etc

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to comment so far. I've read every single one as I'm sure many others have. You're a good bunch :)