Settings View Source Credo.Check.Readability.PreferUnquotedAtoms (Credo v1.7.7-rc.0)

Basics

This check is disabled by default.

Learn how to enable it via .credo.exs.

This check has a base priority of high and requires Elixir < 1.7.0-dev.

Explanation

Prefer unquoted atoms unless quotes are necessary. This is helpful because a quoted atom can be easily mistaken for a string.

# preferred

:x
[x: 1]
%{x: 1}

# NOT preferred

:"x"
["x": 1]
%{"x": 1}

The primary case where this can become an issue is when using atoms or strings for keys in a Map or Keyword list.

For example, this:

%{"x": 1}

Can easily be mistaken for this:

%{"x" => 1}

Because a string key cannot be used to access a value with the equivalent atom key, this can lead to subtle bugs which are hard to discover.

Like all Readability issues, this one is not a technical concern. But you can improve the odds of others reading and liking your code by making it easier to follow.

Check-Specific Parameters

There are no specific parameters for this check.

General Parameters

Like with all checks, general params can be applied.

Parameters can be configured via the .credo.exs config file.