Are you stuck in the intense debate of Visual Studio vs. Visual Studio Code? The battle between the two will entirely depend on the work you are doing, your working style, the languages each supports, and the features you need. There are many ways to decide which one is best for you!
If you have been in the same situation as all of us when it comes to choosing the right editor, it is because both are from Microsoft. It is quite evident as they both have a similar name. Despite the similarity in their names, their features are quite different.
Microsoft’s Visual Studio, also known as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), is a full-featured text editor for developers. It is adored by millions of developers around the world. It comes with many robust development, debugging, and collaboration features, but Visual Studio Code stands in its way, making it a tough competitor. You can’t just ignore it.
What is Microsoft Visual Studio?
VS is an integrated development environment and is Microsoft’s creative launchpad that developers can use to create, edit, and debug code, after which one can easily publish the application they are creating.
The great editing and debugging capabilities of Visual Studio set it apart from its competitors. Visual Studio also includes code completion tools, compilers, graphical designers, etc., to ease the process of creating an application by a developer.
Visual Studio aims to be a complete, robust, and feature-rich solution for creating applications.
What is Visual Studio Code?
Visual Studio Code or VS Code is a text editor that offers multiple customizable features in the form of plugins so that developers can create a fairly selective development environment. VS Code is lightweight and powerful and can be easily installed on any platform.
VS Code has built-in support for Node.js, TypeScript, and JavaScript and a feature-rich extension ecosystem for different languages like C++, Java, C#, PHP, Go, and Python.
Visual Studio Code is in the same category as Atom, Sublime, and Text Wrangler, but with better and more robust features.
A developer who is expanding from .NET or C# to different commenting stacks will be the ideal candidate for VS Code. It will also benefit those who are starting their journey as a developer from scratch!
VS Code focuses on ease, extensibility, speed, and flexibility.
Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio helps in developing computer programs, websites, web applications, mobile applications, and web services. Visual Studio or IDE uses Microsoft’s software development platform i.e. Windows API, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Forms, Microsoft Silverlight, and Windows Store to produce and manage native code.
While Visual Studio Code can be used to write, edit, and debug the code, all in one place. VS Code supports many programming languages, for which a developer does not require web support. Everything can be found in its built-in multilingual support.
A developer can rely on Visual Studio Code for all kinds of development, provided he combines it with the right tools. VS Code comes with built-in support for JavaScript, Node.js, and TypeScript. If this is not enough, one can easily add the necessary support for languages like Python, C#, PHP, Java, and many more by installing its extensions.
The main reason why VS Code seems better in terms of usage in this Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code debate is that it offers amazing support, can work on all platforms, and is lightweight and robust. You can do everything in one place.
Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code – Pricing
When it comes to pricing, the debate between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code has become even more intense.
Unlike IDE or Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code is open source and free. Many contributors to the Microsoft Visual Studio community work every day to ensure that VS Code works flawlessly. The cost-saving aspects of using VS Code are amazing for smaller teams or solo developers.
On the other hand, Visual Studio can cost $45 per month or $1199 for the first 12 months of use. After the first 12 months are complete, a developer needs to pay $799 to use it annually to get the perpetual license. When it comes to the Enterprise version of VS Code, the figures are a bit higher: $250 per month, then $5999 per year, and thereafter $2569 per year.
It should be noted here that the Community version of VS Code is free to use worldwide.
Why choose one over the other?
Why should you choose VS Code?
For 90% or more of the developers, VS Code is a better choice to solve the never-ending debate between Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code.
VS Code is a cross-platform code editor that can easily run on macOS, Windows, and Linux. All the web technologies in VS Code use Electron Framework, which means that apps built through VS Code are simple and hassle-free when updating them.
VS Code is comparatively much faster than Visual Studio. It can launch faster compared to IDEs.
Visual Studio Code is incredibly flexible. It can do virtually everything a developer wants it to do. Even though it is designed to be a code editor, it can replicate what an integrated development environment does in the same.
VS Code, compared to Visual Studio, is quite simple and smooth in terms of development experience. VS Code is quite streamlined and straightforward, so a developer doesn’t get bogged down in any complexity.
Visual Studio Code is the best choice for web development. It offers amazing support with thousands of tools and extensions ready to work in your favor.
Why should Visual Studio be your choice?
Most of its features are insignificant for some developers, no matter how good VS Code is. For them, Visual Studio is the best choice.
Visual Studio is functionally feature-rich. In most cases, Visual Code perfectly fits the requirements of most developers without having to rely on additional extensions or plugins.
In Visual Studio, collaborating with your entire team is quite easy when it comes to code development and debugging. The workflow is super smooth and packed with all kinds of features that one might need in the long run.
When it comes to high-performance code analysis, debugging, and performance profiling, Visual Studio is an amazing choice.
Visual Studio is quite commonly used in the game development industry. For instance, UNITY, a cross-platform environment integrated with Visual Studio, can work effortlessly to create cross-platform mobile gaming apps, AR/VR apps, and more.
Final Words
When deciding in this tug of war of Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code, you should consider your particular needs. If your needs are more geared towards .NET or C# development, you should be looking forward to using Visual Studio. The IDE will be great for your requirements.
However, if your needs are geared towards cross-platform development, you should be going with Visual Studio Code. The lightweight, premium, simple, and feature-rich code editor will be your best friend for years to come.
However, Visual Studio Code has replaced Visual Studio worldwide for most developers. However, the IDE still rules our developer community when it comes to meeting complex development needs.
If you are still confused about this never-ending debate between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code or are looking forward to using your skills on both platforms, apply to Turing. Register with us and see what you are missing in your life!
