As the famous saying goes: “There is nothing more opinionated than a developer”. Well I made that up but we all are aware how hard it is to convince a developer. Nothing really changes when it comes to Code Editors. Some devs prefer Sublime and Vim but others like to use Atom. Among all these names there is one that really stands out and beats all others with a fair margin. I am talking about VS Code. VS Code has made a mark very quickly and is considered one of the most durable code editors today. But why is it so hard to beat? Let’s discuss in detail what makes VS Code so special and why.
Hey, it’s free and cross-platform man
VS Code is free, open-source, and cross-platform IDE. It will work on all devices whether it is Windows, macOS, and Linux which makes it easier for everyone to work regardless of the device they are working on.
Very easy to install
It’s extremely easy to install. All you have to do is just download it and you are ready to code your first web app using, say, Express and JavaScript etc…
Supports a lot of languages
Another thing that makes VS Code so special is the fact that it has support for almost all the programming languages that exist. It supports Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, TypeScript, C++, Java, PHP, Go, C#, PHP, SQL, Ruby, Objective-C, and much more.
Debugging
VS Code comes out with a built-in debugger which is also one of its key features. It helps to speed up any editing, merging, and debugging. However, it automatically comes with a debugger that supports NodeJS that can modify anything transpired to JavaScript but also, you can use extensions for other runtimes.
Extensions
VS Code has thousands of extensions on offer from themes like UI extension to programming language support, debugging, Git integration, and even Spotify players!
You can easily create your own with the help of specific JavaScript / TypeScript and detailed scripts.
Extensions are very important because they make the VS Code what it is right now, a piece of software that you know very well.
Without them, VS Code would be no more than a magnificent text editor with beautiful design and basic automation complete here and there.
Extensions are really important in customizing your software to suit your personal needs.
Conclusion
Most people do agree that it is the best IDE right now and the stack overflow surveys say the same. Its ease of use and countless amazing features make it great. I and my team have also tried to make the developer experience smoother by making a VS Code extension for front-end developers that have Premade UI components. Do check out if interested.
Top comments (9)
When VS Code first came out it was supposed to compete with Atom. I've even heard that it was started from a version of Atom, but I don't know if that's true. It definitely was inspired by Atom. They're both Electron apps. However, VS Code is supported by Microsoft, so has a dedicated team of developers getting paid to improve it, so that's a big advantage.
Totally agree with you. I guess there is a lot that goes into making great things
VSCode is absolutely awesome. The only thing preventing me from switching from eclipse for java stuff is that the java experience in VS sucks and the lack of a decent jdbc client plugin. And don't get me started on intellij bloatware...
VS Code is slow and memory hungry compared to SublimeText
I do agree but it has tons of features too
As does SublimeText!
Both does the job
I love Vs Code
Don't we all?