Having trouble deciding between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code? Your choice between the two will entirely depend on the work you do, your working style, the languages you support, and the features you need. Choosing the most suitable option for you is easy!
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The reason you’ve had a hard time choosing the right editor is that both are Microsoft-made. Their names are pretty similar, so it’s pretty obvious. Their names may sound similar, but their features are quite different.
As a full-featured text editor, Microsoft’s Visual Studio is also known as Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Millions of developers around the world use it. Visual Studio Code, a tough competitor, does not only offer robust development and debugging features, but also offers collaborative features as well. It cannot be ignored either.
Check out Visual Studio Code vs Visual Studio by comparing their capabilities, pricing, utility, and what you need to know!
What is Microsoft Visual Studio?
It’s Microsoft’s creative launching pad where developers can build, edit, and debug their code, after which they can publish their apps.
Its robust editing and debugging capabilities set it apart from its competitors. To make building apps easier, Visual Studio also includes code completion tools, compilers, graphic designers, etc.
For app development, Visual Studio aims to be a feature-rich, robust, and comprehensive solution.
What is Visual Studio Code?
As a text editor, Visual Studio Code makes it easy for developers to curate a very selective development environment by using plugins. VS Code is lightweight, powerful, and easily installed on any platform.
VS Code includes built-in support for Node.js, TypeScript, and JavaScript, as well as a rich ecosystem of extensions for C++, Java, C#, PHP, Go, and Python.
The features of Visual Studio Code are similar to those of Atom, Sublime, and Text Wrangler, but they’re better and more robust.
VS Code is the ideal tool for developers branching out of .NET or C# into different comment stacks. As a developer starting from scratch, it will also be helpful!
VS Code focuses on ease, extensibility, speed, and flexibility.
Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code – Differences
With Visual Studio, you can develop computer programs, websites, web applications, mobile applications, and web services. To produce and manage native code, Visual Studio or IDE uses Microsoft’s software development platform, such as Windows API, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Forms, Microsoft Silverlight, and Windows Store.
With Visual Studio Code, you can write, edit, and debug your code all in one place. For many programming languages, VS Code does not require Web Support. With its multi-language support, it has everything you need.
Developers can use Visual Studio Code for all types of development, provided they pair it with the right tools. JavaScript, Node.js, and TypeScript are built into VS Code. Added support for languages such as Python, C#, PHP, Java, and more can be easily accomplished by installing their extensions.
VS Code appears to be better in terms of usage in this debate between Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code. This is due to its amazing support, ability to work across all platforms, and lightweight and robust construction. Everything can be done in one place.
| Visual Studio | Visual Studio Code |
|---|---|
| A development environment, or IDE, is a program that allows you to develop software. | Visual Studio Code is a code editor. Code can be easily edited by a developer. |
| VS is slower when it comes to performing across different platforms. The processing speed is slower. | VS Code is comparatively faster. |
Developers can use the free editor in Visual Studio, but a paid IDE version is also available. | VS Code is completely free of cost and is open-source. |
VS utilizes the most advanced IntelliSense technology. | It seems that VS Code does not have the best IntelliSense. |
| The overall download size is pretty large. | Compared to Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code is pretty lightweight. It doesn’t require a heavy or large download. |
| VS requires more space to work better and smoother. | VS Code comparatively does not need a lot of space to run. It can easily run on 300 MBs of ram. |
| Visual Studio only runs on macOS and Windows. | VS Code can run on macOS, Windows as well as Linux. |
| Not many professionally developed plugins are available for Visual Studio. | VS Code comes with a wide range of professionally curated plugins and extensions to meet all kinds of editing and compiling needs. |
VS Code vs VS Visual Studio – Pricing
In terms of pricing, the debate between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code has become even more heated.
Visual Studio Code is an open-source and free alternative to I
DEs and Visual Studio. There are many contributors in the Microsoft Visual Studio community who work every day to make sure VS Code works smoothly. For smaller teams or freelance developers, VS Code offers incredible cost savings.
Alternatively, Visual Studio can cost $45 a month or $1,199 for the first 12 months. For a perpetual license, a developer must pay $799 yearly after the first 12 months. In terms of the Enterprise version of VS Code, the numbers go up – $250 a month, $5,999/year, and then $2,569/year.
VS Code’s Community version is available for free worldwide.
VS Code: Why should you choose it?
For 90% of developers, Visual Studio Code is the better choice for solving the never-ending debate between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code.
This cross-platform code editor can be used on macOS, Windows, and Linux. VS Code builds applications using Electron Framework for all its web technologies, which makes them lean and seamless to update.
Comparatively, VS Code is much faster than Visual Studio. When compared to an IDE, it can boot up faster.
The flexibility of Visual Studio Code is unmatched. It can do pretty much anything a developer wants. You can use it in a similar way to an Integrated Development Environment, even though it is designed as a code editor.
As compared to Visual Studio, VS Code is pretty simple and smooth to use. It’s pretty straightforward and streamlined, so developers don’t get tangled in complications.
For web development, Visual Studio Code is the best choice. With thousands of tools and extensions, it offers incredible support.
Visual Studio: Why Should You Choose It?
VS Code’s most significant features are insignificant to some developers, despite how great it is. Visual Studio is the best choice for them.
There are a lot of functional and feature-rich features in Visual Studio. Typically, Visual Code meets the requirements of most developers without requiring any additional extensions or plugins.
When it comes to developing and debugging code, Visual Studio makes it pretty easy to collaborate with your entire team. It is incredibly smooth and loaded with all the features one would need in the long run.
Visual Studio is an incredible tool for heavy-duty code analysis, debugging, and performance profiling.
In the game development industry, Visual Studio is pretty common. It is possible to develop cross-platform mobile gaming applications, AR/VR applications, and more using UNITY, a multi-platform environment integrated with Visual Studio.
Conclusions
You should consider your particular needs when choosing between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code. You should be looking forward to using Visual Studio if you are using .net development or C#. Your requirements will be met by an IDE.
If you need cross-stack development, you should use Visual Studio Code. For years to come, this lightweight, premium, straightforward, feature-rich code editor will be your best friend.
Most developers now use Visual Studio Code instead of Visual Studio around the world. However, IDEs continue to dominate our developer community when it comes to fulfilling complex development requirements.
You can apply at Turing if you’re still confused about the never-ending Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code debate or looking forward to using your skills on both platforms. Let us show you what you’re missing! Register with us today!
