ecmaVersion in recommended config is outdated

[ClementValot]

Config import/recommended has a hardcoded parserOptions.ecmaVersion of 2018

This has the side effect of not being able to parse my eslint.config.mjs which uses nullish coalescing (Unless I override with languageOptions.ecmaVersion = latest )

Is there a technical reason for not setting it to latest (which is currently the ESLint default)?

[michaelfaith]

Good question. When i was doing the flat config work, i was aiming for parity with the original configs, just with the new config structure. And the legacy configs had it defined that way.

eslint-plugin-import/config/recommended.js

Lines 24 to 27 in 67cc798

	parserOptions: {
	sourceType: 'module',
	ecmaVersion: 2018,
	},

I can't think of a reason why that shouldn't be 'latest', though.

[ljharb]

Changing it would be a breaking change, unfortunately.

[ClementValot]

I don't know nearly enough about this to understand why, are there features that are enabled with 2018 and wouldn't be with latest?

[ljharb]

Because the inability of eslint to tolerate newer syntax is also a feature, and code could accidentally use syntax that isn't actually supported in their target environments if the ecmaVersion is bumped.

[michaelfaith]

Changing it would be a breaking change, unfortunately.

This got me thinking, would there be value in having a checklist of things that we'd like to include whenever there is a need for a new major? I feel like there's been several of these kinds of small items that would be nice to have, but are breaking. Just a thought.

[ljharb]

I have various lists tracking them; including a local branch.