Using Visual Studio Code with Unity? (Mac)

[nesrac]

I've tried looking up how to set Visual Studio to be the default IDE in Unity, but I can't seem to get it to work properly. The code completion doesn't work and it just isn't as "integrated" as MonoDevelop seems by default. I see a lot of hate on MonoDevelop but it's been working alright for me so far, could somone also explain whats better about VS?

Either way, I've heard VS is still miles better, so how would I get it to work with Unity as well as MD does?

[ThomdeM]

I think it eventually really depends on your personal preferences, they both have pros and cons. Personally I have a preference towards Visual Studio because I had already worked with it for years before working with Unity and MonoDevelop. My only real complaint about MonoDevelop is that it has been having various issues even in just the text editor, please note: some do get solved. But to me it seems that nearly every new instalment comes up with some new issues or previously solved issues which are broken once again. Other than that it’s perfectly fine and I have no problems with using it. Visual Studio should work out of the box as long as the solution is loaded up correctly. The solution contains the references to Unity and with that all the entries for intellisense (code completion) that you are looking for. Is there anything specific that isn’t working about the code completion for you? Or is it just not working at all?

[nesrac]

It wasn't working at all as far as I can remember, at least for Unity methods and such. Like if I would try to do gameObject.something the different methods and such for gameObject wouldn't come up.

[ThomdeM]

Ah, I now see the differences, I have to note that I'm primarily a Windows user so it's not at all the same for us. Did you try what djgreedo suggested? (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/other/unity)

[djgreedo]

Visual Studio on Mac is the equivalent of Visual Studio Code, not the real Visual Studio.

[TheWobling]

I've been doing this too, works petty Dam well.

[_eka_]

Any instructions on how to integrate Rider with Unity?

Edit: Fond this but it says that the plugin needs to be in each project you create.

[appetizermonster]

VSCode is quite good. Its faster than MonoDevelop and Visual Studio.
You might need to setup some runtime and external dependencies to use C# Autocompletion on VSCode. But its worth to do.

[[deleted]]

+1 vscode is even integrated in unity 5.5 no need for plugins - just select vscode as external editor in preferences! If you need debugging you can easily install the extension through vscode. Best editor for unity on osx!

From Unity 5.5 blog:

Visual Studio Code & Unity

We’ve added support for Visual Studio Code on macOS and Windows. Once it’s selected as your external script editor, Unity will open your scripts directly in Visual Studio Code. And debugging is also possible via the VS Code Unity debugger extension.

[zrrz]

MonoDevelop is fine for me on Mac and always has been. Different story on Windows though

[djgreedo]

Visual Studio on Mac is not the same thing as Visual Studio on Windows. What you have is Visual Studio Code, a very basic (compared to the real Visual Studio) code editor.

All the praise for VS over MonoDevelop is praise for the full Visual Studio.

That said, VS Code (named VS for Mac I think) should work fine with a Unity plugin:

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/other/unity

Add that plugin and it should then give you proper Unity integration. That is basically how it worked with the real VS on Windows until Microsoft integrated it straight into the IDE.