❓ Which PHP linter in GitHub workflow should we use?

[mnigh]

Description

The GitHub workflow that is used to lint the codebase does not run a linter for PHP even though our API is written in PHP.

Possible Solution

Replace current workflow with Super-Linter GitHub action.

[patcon]

No block on super-linter, but I wonder if it might be simpler to just add a step/workflow for PHPStan rather than an omni-linter docker image with every linter installed, which might not be clear how to run locally

https://phpstan.org/

(when super-linter came out, it kinda struck me as a bit of an idea that come more from marketing team for GitHub Actions. The 8k stars for a GitHub-backed project that applies to ALL LANGUAGES aka every repo, that kinda corroborates for me that the developer response was a bit tepid)

[vd1992]

related issue #3950

[petertgiles]

I've never used any of these tools but I think PHPStan is more of an error checker than a linter. It does sound like something we would want, too, though.

[patcon]

bah, i had a huge comment here where I'd done the research, but lost it in The Great Chrome Crash of last night 😭

Was basically summarizing these articles/posts:

• https://phpstan.org/blog/three-pillars-of-static-analysis-in-php
• https://www.reddit.com/r/PHP/comments/cv8cc3/why_did_you_choose_phpstan_or_psalm/

Rapid Re-Summary

• @petertgiles is right about linters vs error checkers being diff
• someone in comments suggested it's easier to just run all the comparable static analysis tools, rather than try to decide in advance what's best. if one gets annoying or never seems to be the one to raise issues, it can be removed later.
• linting: https://github.com/JakubOnderka/PHP-Parallel-Lint is a good re-surface of php's native linter
• Psalm and PhpStan are the error-checkers
  • Psalm is the new kid on the block. Seems ppl like it when they try. more features? but also maybe aggressive defaults that scare ppl, so dial them back
    • https://github.com/vimeo/psalm
  • PhpStan is the more mature one, with momentum and very few "problems" that drive anyone away
    • https://github.com/phpstan/phpstan
• php codesniffer is more about codestyle: https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer
  • existing company/project-specific sniffs to choose from

[vd1992]

definitely would be handy to have something
I caught myself messing up when comparing boolean to nulls, as false == null is true but false === null is false

[tristan-orourke]

If we're adding linting to CI, I'd want to also be able to run it in VS Code.

[mnigh]

What about using php-cs-fixer within setup-php in a new GitHub workflow (phplint.yml)? There is a VS code extension as well: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=junstyle.php-cs-fixer

[petertgiles]

This looks promising! I might remove Intelephense and install this extension to give it a test run.

[petertgiles]

I did a few more minutes of searching. It seems like the official Laravel linter is Pint. Built on top of php-cs-fixer, I think. It looks like there are a few unofficial vscode extensions to try out, too.

[mnigh]

VS Code task: https://codebysamgan.com/how-to-add-laravel-pint-to-vs-code-formatter

[petertgiles]

Converted to issue #7697