A linter is a tool used in software development to analyze source code for potential errors, stylistic issues, and adherence to coding standards. It essentially acts as a static code analyzer, examining the code without actually executing it. Linters help developers catch issues early in the development cycle, improving code quality and maintainability
Linters are useful tools for maintaining code quality and consistency in your Python applications. They analyze code for potential issues, enforce coding standards, and help catch errors before they are pushed into production. Linters are not necessarily a quick fix, can be a distraction, and it’s not inconceivable that they may not be helpful with old, large code bases.
This article picks some useful tools to help you fix Python code.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion here.
Click the links in the table below to learn more about each tool.
| Python Linters | |
|---|---|
| Ruff | Extremely fast Python linter and code formatter |
| ty | Fast Python type checker |
| Mypy | Static type checker for Python |
| Bandit | Find security issues in Python code |
| Pylint | Static code analyser |
| wemake-python-styleguide | Flake8 plugin |
| Tach | Enforces module dependencies and architectural boundaries |
| pycodestyle | Check Python code against style conventions in PEP 8 |
| Pyflakes | Checks Python source files for errors |
| Vulture | Find dead code |
| Pyrefly | Fast type checker and language server |
| Flake8 | Wrapper around PyFlakes and pycodestyle |
| Beartype | Near-real-time hybrid runtime-static type-checker |
| Radon | Computes various metrics from Python code |
| Pyright | Full-featured, standards-compliant static type checker |
| cython-lint | Lint Cython files |
| basedpyright | Fork of pyright |
| Refurb | Modernize Python codebases |
| Pylama | Code audit tool for Python |
| Prospector | Brings together the functionality of other Python analysis tools |
| deptry | Check for dependency issues |
| Fixit | Highly configurable linting framework |
| complexipy | Measures cognitive complexity in Python code |
| Zuban | High-performance Python type checker and language server |
| Pyroma | Rates how well a Python project compiles |
| pydoclint | Python docstring linter |
| Arid | Fast duplicate code detection for Python projects |
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