In common usage a linter detects code that is legal but likely a mistake, or code that doesn’t follow best practice.
Although static type checkers do fit in that definition, that definition is overly broad and they would not be called a “linter”.
Here is how static type checkers describe themselves:
Pyright is a full-featured, standards-based static type checker for Python.
Mypy is a static type checker for Python.
TypeScript is a strongly typed programming language that builds on JavaScript, giving you better tooling at any scale.
Sorbet is a fast, powerful type checker designed for Ruby.
Here is how linters describe themselves:
Pylint is a static code analyser for Python 2 or 3. … Pylint analyses your code without actually running it. It checks for errors, enforces a coding standard, looks for code smells, and can make suggestions about how the code could be refactored.
(Ok I guess it’s a bit redundant for Pylint to say it is a linter.)
Eslint: The pluggable linting utility for JavaScript and JSX
Clippy: A collection of lints to catch common mistakes and improve your Rust code.
Ruff: An extremely fast Python linter and code formatter, written in Rust.
You get the idea… Linters are heuristic and advisory. Quite different to static type checking.
In common usage a linter detects code that is legal but likely a mistake, or code that doesn’t follow best practice.
Although static type checkers do fit in that definition, that definition is overly broad and they would not be called a “linter”.
Here is how static type checkers describe themselves:
Here is how linters describe themselves:
(Ok I guess it’s a bit redundant for Pylint to say it is a linter.)
You get the idea… Linters are heuristic and advisory. Quite different to static type checking.