ruffNovember 5, 2025
Ruff is a program made for linting and code formatting for Python files. Linting checks your code for errors and bugs but also for style issues - for example, sorting imports or getting rid of excessive empty lines. With formatting, ruff checks for formatting styles such as how many spaces for an indent or the max length of a line. The command ruff check will tell you of any linting issues it finds as well as the specific code it would give to that type of issue. ruff check --fix will fix said issues. To format your files run ruff format.
Ruff is a program made for linting and code formatting for Python files. Linting checks your code for errors and bugs but also for style issues - for example, sorting imports or getting rid of excessive empty lines. With formatting, ruff checks for formatting styles such as how many spaces for an indent or the max length of a line. The command ruff check will tell you of any linting issues it finds as well as the specific code it would give to that type of issue. ruff check --fix will fix said issues. To format your files run ruff format.
| Diátaxis Section | Ruff’s Strengths | Ruff’s Failures |
|---|---|---|
| Tutorials | None — users are dropped into installation with no walkthrough or context. | No “first project” example or beginner flow. |
| How-To Guides | Limited command-line snippets. | Missing structured guides (e.g., “Using Ruff in CI,” “Migrating from flake8”). |
| Reference | Very strong — exhaustive configuration options and flags. | Overwhelms new users with detail before giving big-picture understanding. |
| Explanation | Occasional mentions in FAQ. | No design philosophy, no insight into trade-offs or reasoning. |
As stated in the DECO presentation, Literate Programming explains why and how code works and prioritizes human legibility. Though it doesn’t do the former, it can aid in providing the latter. For example, with Ruff, if you have multiple parameters in a function header, when you run ruff format on the file, it will organize the parameters to have one on each line. This makes it much easier to read, even though it takes more lines, following Literate Programming’s ideal of “clarity over preciseness.” The Ruff documentation itself also uses comments to provide notes on its code examples, such as comments for the commands ruff check and ruff format.
As for Localization, Ruff is made for linting and formatting which doesn’t have so much to do with this process. According to the DECO presentation, it is the process of adapting content/software/documentation to a specific locale. Ruff can’t really help with translations or dates/times, but it can keep your code linted and formatted which makes your code easier to read when you are working on localization.
As stated in the DECO presentation, Literate Programming explains why and how code works and prioritizes human legibility. Though it doesn’t do the former, it can aid in providing the latter. For example, with Ruff, if you have multiple parameters in a function header, when you run ruff format on the file, it will organize the parameters to have one on each line. This makes it much easier to read, even though it takes more lines, following Literate Programming’s ideal of “clarity over preciseness.” The Ruff documentation itself also uses comments to provide notes on its code examples, such as comments for the commands ruff check and ruff format.
As for Localization, Ruff is made for linting and formatting which doesn’t have so much to do with this process. According to the DECO presentation, it is the process of adapting content/software/documentation to a specific locale. Ruff can’t really help with translations or dates/times, but it can keep your code linted and formatted which makes your code easier to read when you are working on localization.
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