Prettier and Minified Code

Today, I learned that Prettier, the popular code formatter, can handle minified JavaScript code and try to format it into a readable form. However, there are some things to be aware of:

• Performance Concerns: Prettifying large minified files (e.g., libraries) can be time-consuming.
• Accuracy: Minified code might not always format cleanly due to certain minification tricks.
• Original Structure: Prettified minified code won’t necessarily match the original code structure. Minification often renames variables and changes the code’s structure.
• Configuration: If using automated tools that trigger Prettier (like on save or commit), consider configuring them to ignore .min.js files to avoid performance hits.

In practice, if the goal is to understand minified code, it’s usually better to find the unminified source or use a source map. Prettier is great, but it’s designed more for consistent formatting than for reversing minification.