Vim uses :help 'path' to define the root directories from where to search non-recursively for files.
It is used for:
gf,gF,<C-w>f,<C-w>F,<C-w>gf,<C-w>gF,:find,:sfind,:tabfind,
Andrés Cuellar andrescuco
You may want a linter plugin to lint your code in Vim but you probably don't need it. At least try the built-in way before jumping on the plugin bandwagon.
autocmd FileType <filetype> setlocal makeprg=<external command>
This autocommand tells Vim to use <external command> when invoking :make % in a <filetype> buffer. You can add as many similar lines as needed for other languages.