cleaned up code and added descriptive comments

Add configurable 'place_mason_bin' option in custom/chadrc.lua for flexible mason/bin path handling

lua/core/default_config.lua

@@ -83,12 +83,9 @@ M.ui = {
   },
 }
 
--- Where NvChad should put mason.nvim bin location in your PATH. Can be one of:
--- - "prepend" (default, Mason's bin location is put first in PATH)
--- - "append" (Mason's bin location is put at the end of PATH)
--- - "skip" (doesn't modify PATH)
+-- Determines the preferred placement of the mason.nvim bin directory in your PATH.
 ---@type '"prepend"' | '"append"' | '"skip"'
-M.mason_path = "prepend"
+M.place_mason_bin = "prepend"
 
 M.plugins = "" -- path i.e "custom.plugins", so make custom/plugins.lua file
 

lua/core/init.lua

@@ -57,11 +57,15 @@ for _, provider in ipairs { "node", "perl", "python3", "ruby" } do
 end
 
 -- add binaries installed by mason.nvim to path
+-- based on the selected 'place_mason_bin' option
 local is_windows = vim.loop.os_uname().sysname == "Windows_NT"
-if config.mason_path == "prepend" then
-  vim.env.PATH = vim.fn.stdpath "data" .. "/mason/bin" .. (is_windows and ";" or ":") .. vim.env.PATH
-elseif config.mason_path == "append" then
-  vim.env.PATH = vim.env.PATH .. (is_windows and ";" or ":") .. vim.fn.stdpath "data" .. "/mason/bin"
+local path_separator = is_windows and ";" or ":"
+local mason_bin_path = vim.fn.stdpath "data" .. "/mason/bin"
+
+if config.place_mason_bin == "prepend" then
+  vim.env.PATH = mason_bin_path .. path_separator .. vim.env.PATH
+elseif config.place_mason_bin == "append" then
+  vim.env.PATH = vim.env.PATH .. path_separator .. mason_bin_path
 end
 
 -------------------------------------- autocmds ------------------------------------------

lua/plugins/configs/mason.lua

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 local options = {
   ensure_installed = { "lua-language-server" }, -- not an option from mason.nvim
 
+-- Note: Avoid setting `PATH="prepend"|"append"` here.
+-- To change the location of the mason/bin directory, update the 'place_mason_bin' option
+-- in 'custom/chadrc.lua'. If you must set it here, ensure 'place_mason_bin' in 'custom/chadrc.lua'
+-- is set to 'skip' to prevent duplicate mason/bin paths.
   PATH = "skip",
 
   ui = {