I wrote about Oxc (The JavaScript Oxidation Compiler) in Next Generation Tooling for Developers. When I first wrote this article, Oxc already included a linter (oxlint, which can replace ESLint), but the formatter was not available yet. Since then, VoidZero has continued the development of Oxc, not only launching Vite+ but also launching a formatter (oxfmt, which can replace Prettier). With the combination of oxlint and oxfmt, I now have a modern-alternative to ESLint + Prettier. Note that this might not work as a replacement in all existing projects that rely on specific configurations of ESLint and/or Prettier. However, for new Node.js projects, I will strive to go with the Oxc stack.
The two main reasons I prefer Oxc is speed and ease of configuration; as I have explained in Next Generation Tooling for Developers, the Rust-based tools are noticeably faster. In addition, they have a more modern design with more intutive configuration. In particular, ESLint has become a nightmare to configure after the breaking changes in ESLint v9.
These tools can be run in a project without being installed or added to package.json using npx commands:
npx oxlint@latestnpx oxfmt@latestFor consistent usage in an npm project, Oxc packages can be added as devDependencies.
npm install --save-dev oxlint@latest oxlint-tsgolint@latest oxfmt@latestConfiguration files for Oxlint are written in JSON, with support for comments (JSONC). Oxlint will automatically search for files named .oxlintrc.json and automatically use those. But you can name the file anything when you are using the --config CLI option.
Use the --init option to initialize a .oxlintrc.json file:
## If installed
./node_modules/.bin/oxlint --init## If not installed
npx oxlint@latest --initBy default, oxfmt automatically tries to find the nearest .oxfmtrc.json or .oxfmtrc.jsonc file from current working directory. If not found, default configuration is used.
Also you can specify your config file by -c yourconfig.jsonc flag.
Almost all format options are compatible with Prettier’s options. So you may finish your setup by just renaming .prettierrc.json to .oxfmtrc.jsonc.
Use the --init option to initialize a .oxfmtrc.json file:
## If installed
./node_modules/.bin/oxfmt --init## If not installed
npx oxfmt@latest --init--init option).
The prettier-init tool can be used to help bootstrap configuration:
npx prettier-init@latest
mv ".prettierrc.json" ".oxfmtrc.json"scripts block in package.json
For easy and consistent usage across the project, add to the scripts block in package.json:
"scripts": {
"lint": "oxlint --type-aware --type-check .",
"lint:fix": "oxlint --type-aware --type-check . --fix",
"lint:fix-all": "oxlint --type-aware --type-check . --fix --fix-suggestions --fix-dangerously",
"format": "oxfmt .",
"format:check": "oxfmt . --check"
},Commit and push all relevant files that were changed or added:
git add ".oxfmtrc.json" ".oxlintrc.json" "package.json" "package-lock.json"
git commit -s
git pushFeatured image by Gabriel Heinzer on Unsplash.
]]>I learned about these tools while writing How To Install Docker. Although I’ve heard about them in the past, I kept forgetting what they were called, which is one reason I am writing about them now.
As this description states, Lima is similar to WSL. When using Windows, I have gotten used to a workflow based around WSL, both for Docker and with Git. I have not used macOS yet but expect to one day get a MacBook as a work laptop, and will have to learn an effective workflow for macOS.
Colima is basically a higher level usage of Lima and utilises Lima to provide Docker, Containerd and/or Kubernetes.
Colima is a third-party project that wraps Lima to provide an alternative user experience for launching containers.
The key difference is that Colima launches Docker by default, while Lima launches containerd by default.
It’s worth noting that current versions of Lima also support using Docker as a container runtime, and the same is true the other way: Colima supports using containerd as a container runtime.
# Homebrew
brew install lima# MacPorts
sudo port install lima# Nix
nix-env -i limaColima is available on Homebrew, MacPorts, and Nix. Check here for other installation options.
# Homebrew
brew install colima# MacPorts
sudo port install colima# Nix
nix-env -iA nixpkgs.colimaDocumentation / Examples / Containers / Docker | Lima
limactl start template://docker
export DOCKER_HOST=$(limactl list docker --format 'unix://{{.Dir}}/sock/docker.sock')
docker run -d --name nginx -p 127.0.0.1:8080:80 nginx:alpinelimactl start template://docker-rootful
export DOCKER_HOST=$(limactl list docker-rootful --format 'unix://{{.Dir}}/sock/docker.sock')
docker run -d --name nginx -p 127.0.0.1:8080:80 nginx:alpineDocker client is required for Docker runtime. Installable with brew brew install docker.
You can use the docker client on macOS after colima start with no additional setup.
brew install docker
colima startBoth run on Linux hosts. Lima also supports non-macOS hosts (Linux, NetBSD, etc.) and Colima’s README lists Linux as supported.
There’s less reason to use Lima/Colima on Linux than on macOS, but it may still be useful in certain cases, since it is another way to run VMs on Linux.
After years of mac users using projects such as Lima, Colima and others in order to run containers on macOS, Apple released their own solution a few months ago: Container. This seems like a good solution that likely has good performance. Notably, this solution is not based on Docker, but can nevertheless run OCI containers.
Docker runs best on Linux. If using Linux, skip to Install Docker below. If using Windows, read the WSL section first.
I don’t use macOS so cannot advise on installation methods for Docker on macOS. However, Lima, Colima and Rancher Desktop are possible options. See Alternative Docker Installation Methods below.
On Windows, Docker Engine can be installed inside WSL. This is an alternative to using Docker Desktop (unlike Docker CE, Docker Desktop is not open source).
You can install everything you need to run WSL with a single command. Open PowerShell in administrator mode by right-clicking and selecting “Run as administrator”, enter the wsl --install command, then restart your machine.
wsl --installThis command will enable the features necessary to run WSL and install the Ubuntu distribution of Linux. (This default distribution can be changed).
/bin/sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com)"sudo usermod -aG "docker" "${USER}"
newgrp docker
sudo systemctl enable --now docker.service
sudo systemctl enable --now containerd.servicedocker is installed and check versions
docker version
docker --versiondocker buildx and docker compose plugins are also installed (likely already installed alongside docker)
docker buildx version
docker compose versiondocker run --rm hello-worldI do not suggest Docker Desktop as an installation method because it is not open source.
All of these tools can run OCI containers (sometimes referred to as “Docker containers”).
Featured image by Ian Taylor on Unsplash.
]]>Setting up Git correctly on both Windows and WSL is essential for a smooth development workflow, especially in environments where you switch between the two.
.gitconfig files between systems.Follow these steps to install Git, configure it properly, and enable seamless authentication across both environments.
These commands all need to run in Windows PowerShell.
winget install -e --id Git.Git --source=wingetIf you need Git LFS, also run the following command:
winget install -e --id GitHub.GitLFS --source=wingetgit --version; git credential-manager --versionIf you are using GitHub, you can use your GitHub username and the “no-reply” email address from GitHub Email settings.
$env:GIT_EMAIL = "your-git-email"$env:GIT_USER = "your-git-username".gitconfig
These settings help avoid common git warnings.
git config --global color.ui "auto"
git config --global init.defaultBranch "main"
git config --global user.email "$env:GIT_EMAIL"
git config --global user.name "$env:GIT_USER"These commands all need to run in WSL.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git git-lfsgit --version && git lfs --version.gitconfig file from Windows
cp "$(wslpath -a "$(cmd.exe /c ")")" "${HOME}/.gitconfig" git config --global credential.helper "$(wslpath -a "$(powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "Write-Host -NoNewline (Join-Path ((Get-Item (git --exec-path)).Parent.Parent.FullName) 'bin\git-credential-manager.exe')")")"Featured image by Gabriel Heinzer on Unsplash.
]]>