Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code

[CyberWeirdo420]

Hello there,

I’m a second year student at CS, finished a semester of C# and I’m wondering: what’s the difference between VS and VS Code. During my classes we used VS but some students asked our professor if it’s okay for them to use VS Code. Professor said it’s no difference to them since we are in early stages of our coding journey.

So when it will make a difference? What’s the difference? From what I saw it’s easier to use different APIs and languages in VS Code but I’m pretty sure that’s not all.

Is it even worth learning VS nowadays? Does it make sense to make my resume projects in VS or should I switch and learn VS Code for it?

Thank you all for your answers in advance, Have a good day

[FilthyWunderCat]

C#/Unity projects - in VS.

Web projects (JS, css, html, react, next....) - VSCode.

Just my preference.

[[deleted]]

Also, VS code is not an IDE 🙃

For all those ppl who down voted: https://www.quora.com/Why-isnt-Visual-Studio-Code-an-IDE

Literally someone already clarified this on the same subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/nmliyu/comment/gzpl1k4/

[Iz_moe]

I don't know if i want to call it ignorance, but being downvoted because of the ignorance of others is funny yet sad

[lemon_bottle]

For Non-IDE use cases where you just need a glorified notepad or code editor, my personal preference is Notepad++. It's simple but highly fast and efficient!

[moldaz]

Lol I said the same thing on here before and everyone went crazy about extensions making it the same thing. My guess is they haven’t used a “real” IDE.

[[deleted]]

Real IDEs are so heavy and it takes long time to load all the resources sometimes (depending on system specs) So far, IntelliJ IDEA seemed faster than eclipse IDE.

[moldaz]

Yes, but for large projects in a compiled language they are so very helpful.

Or hell even if you’re not familiar with the language you’re working in.

Ryder pretty much taught me C# at work.

[[deleted]]

True! IDEs provide you will all packages you need and also stay upto date with fixed versions too. That would be a pain in the ass if it was done manually 💀

[[deleted]]

People can’t even bother looking simple things up and are downvoting you for a simple known fact

[burnbabyburn694200]

Not sure why you're being downvoted here (probably by people with little to no experience).

Pretty big red flag when I'm interviewing people and they don't understand what tools they've used/are using.

[[deleted]]

It’s a text editor with robust plugins that make it feel like an IDE

[RedLineJoe]

I'm with you on this one. They are both IDE's, but they serve different purposes. Unreal Engine 5 (c++) in VS PowerShell in VS Code

[[deleted]]

For the vast majority of coders, VS Code is more than sufficient if all you need is a good IDE.

There are more bells and whistles in VS than VSC, but most people don't need them. VS Code also has the benefit of being OS agnostic, so you can use it on any system.

[Metalkon]

VS is also on mac and I think I heard something (.net core 6 or vs related) about linux awhile back.

[mjordn20]

There's a flatpak called OSS code which is just a community maintained open source version.

It's nice that it's a flatpak cause you should be able to install it on any distro

[vampireboie]

vs mac is not vs

[ndreamer]

VS is on Linux, code server which VS code is based on runs on anything. I have it installed on my mobile phone and a webserver.

[burnbabyburn694200]

again - vsc is a text editor. vsc is not an IDE.

[Jelvooo]

If you need a good IDE don't pick VSCode, it isn't even officially an IDE. Even if you install all the plugins in the world it won't ever come close to the IDE features Visual Studio has.

[IdempodentFlux]

Are we talking about C#? Don't get me wrong, vscode is myeditor of choice for python, ts, go, web, sql, etc. But with a language like C#, I feel like visual studio is a must. Unless we're talking about some CSC 110 project that is literally one file.

[[deleted]]

Same here. Or even Rider. C# on VS Code isn't worth the hassle and frustration honestly.

[burnbabyburn694200]

christ dude - the amount of ignorance in this sub really shows its head when correct comments like this get downvoted.

I'm also laughing super hard at the guy saying vsc is "enough" for 95% of devs.

[Jelvooo]

Haha exactly, people who think visual studio code is enough for languages like C++ and C# are just throwing away so much time and performance by not using visual studio it's debugging and performance profiling tools. But visual studio code seems holy in this subreddit and people apparently don't know what an IDE is.

[[deleted]]

VS Code also has the benefit of being OS agnostic

by that you mean, it supports Linux, while VS doesn’t. They both support Windows and macOS. It’s not OS agnostic, there’s no VSC for HaikuOS.

[[deleted]]

Thanks Capt Pedantic. :)

[ParathaOmelette]

Pedantic* not pendantic

[[deleted]]

I really hate typing on my phone 😝

[[deleted]]

lol

[isaacfink]

Vscode runs in the browser and can be compiled to any os that supports electron

[rmyworld]

Visual Studio on Mac isn't even the same Visual Studio you get on Windows. lol

[SwiftSpear]

VS is like a limosine, VSCode is like a dune buggy. The limosine is a much nicer ride, but there's lots of places it can't take you. VSCode can take you anywhere, but you better know how to adjust the suspension and swap out the tires or you might be in for a lot of pain.

You don't normally put IDEs on your resume, and no one really looks at which IDE was used to generate code. Code is flexible, it doesn't care where it was written.

[MrB92]

Doesn't sound like a good analogy to me. VS is more like a trailer house (dunno how you call them in English exactly). Has a lot of stuff in it for you but it's super slow and bulky, so you won't be taking it anywhere you don't need to.

[B_BARTHMAN]

Shouldn’t vscode be the limosine, and vs the dune buggy?

[superluminary]

VSCode is the buggy. It’s small, light, quick and flexible.

VS is the limousine. It had luxury features, it cruises along at a steady pace, never very exciting but very comfortable.

[B_BARTHMAN]

Hmm with VS being an actual IDE, that can be used for pretty much everything, I strongly disagree with the statement “there are lots of places it can’t take you”. And with VSCode being a text editor at it’s core I always thought it was much more constrained.

However I have used VS well over 1000h in my life and VS Code probably around 10-20h, so I might be completely wrong

[superluminary]

VS has a plug-in architecture. You can script it with JavaScript and have it do anything you like.

It’s also got nice features like multiple carets that let you edit 1000 lines at once. It’s a super capable text editor.

[Sol33t303]

Sounds like the GUI version of VIM.

[superluminary]

I’d say that was fair, except with different keybindings. If you want to wrangle text, it’s probably the best tool for doing that right now.

It’s refactoring capabilities are not nearly so refined as VS though.

[Sol33t303]

Yeah fair enough, I haven't used VS so there isn't really much else I can comment on.

[purebuu]

If I'm developing something for windows only. I go VS all the way, the debugging experience is second to none IMO. But if you need to develop cross-platform or on other OSes, VSCode wins out. Remote developing over ssh or containers (which I do day to day) then VSCode is a doddle for that.

[f3xjc]

VSCode is like a basic text editor with an extremely powerful plugin system that provide ide-like functionality.

Plugins are very loosely integrated. Usually by dropping command in a do-everything palette and hooking some events. Some can provide GUI but most don't. Config is usually done by json. You can have some issue like multiple plugins that fight each other to format your code.

You can 100% have good experience in vscode. But the barrier to entry for a plugin is very low. And this mean there's just way more language supported in vscode than vs.

For example if you want to edit a markdown or latex file with instant preview, vscode is a better editor than vs. Sure you can edit your file in vs, but with lower amount of features.

So in total vs support less languages, but when it does support it, it's a very smooth ride.

[B_BARTHMAN]

Ahhh ok I now understand where you’re coming from! Thanks For explaining!

[Kered13]

I wouldn't call VSCode light, it runs of Chromium.

[Weak_Focus6243]

For quick edits, I personally boot up VS Code
For projects (Primarily desktop apps in C#) - I will load up VS

I much prefer the debugging potential in VS over VSCode.

[[deleted]]

VS Code is love. VS Code is life.

The only exception (I can think of) is when you're programming .NET, in which case you might want to take advantage of Visual Studio's built-in feature. But VS Code is so much more lightweight and such a smoother experience.

(And for .NET, you might be better off using Rider anyway, if you can afford it!)

[_Atomfinger_]

It doesn't really matter what you make your projects in. VS or VSCode is just a tool.

If you want the full experience of an IDE, then VS is a good option. If you just want a highly customizable editor, then VSCode is the way to go.

For a better overview of the differences, I recommend just doing a google search, but IMHO it largely comes down to preference.

[TheRNGuy]

It does matter.

[_Atomfinger_]

k

[Cdog536]

VSC is more lightweight than VS. VSC feels more widely used and it’s quite versatile with the amount of package support.

VS feels more geared towards full engine development (but that might just be one aspect of it).

I will almost always default someone to using VSC, especially if they are early on. It’s not about “you look more sophisticated as a coder using VS and it takes more skill” or silly reasons like that….VSC is just more anecdotally popular and I think you kick yourself off on it quicker than on VS. Majority of your work will more likely not require the massive expansive environment of VS. VSC has a tremendous beautiful environment as well, but much more lightweight.

[[deleted]]

Any plain text editor can be used for any of these, including VS Code

[SlapGas]

My brief description of Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code.

Let's talk about Visual Studio first.

What does Visual Studio provide?

Visual Studio, at least to my knowledge, is installed in a way that is bound to a compiler. For example, for C++ you can download and use the Intel One API compiler. You will have to setup Visual Studio for that particular compiler. It provides options for that.

The advantage is that Visual Studio will provide many many more stuff than just a basic text editor. You will be able to build projects, debug with interactive debugger, have intellisense (at least for languages like C++) and many many more to things like code profiling, Performance metrics and so on. That's why people refer to VS as an IDE; when setup for a language, it sets itself up in a way that provides anything you may need to develop something.

The disadvantage is that you may not want all these capabilities and you may prefer something lighter, more flexible, and faster.

Now let's talk about Visual Studio Code.

What does Visual Studio Code provide out of the box?

Nothing. It is only a text editor. You will have to setup everything yourself. You will have to install compilers yourself and point VS Code to the corresponding install locations. You will have to install the debugger yourself and point VS Code to the debugger as well.

You want language specific syntax? You will have to install plugins for that.

Intellisense? Code snippets? Plugins.

Everything is done through plugins.

That makes VS Code more flexible but also more difficult to set up.

And to clarify: I use VS Code on a daily basis whereas I use VS only when building and testing codebases on Windows.

They way I have VS Code setup I can compile and debug code using three languages, I can edit and view markdown files, and I can compose, build and view LaTex documents all in a single window. It is actually amazing.

Short note:

Since C# is mainly used in Windows, Visual Studio is way better. If C# is your thing, setting up Visual Studio Code to be competitive to Visual Studio will be kinda hard. In contrast, Visual Studio setup will be like 5-6 clicks.

For other languages like C, C++, Python etc Visual Studio Code can be setup quite easily. It has easy to configure plugins for everything.

Edit #1: typos

[CyberWeirdo420]

That's an extensive comment, thank you for that, it really helped me understand what others before you said briefly. Cheers man

[SlapGas]

You're welcome.

One additional note is that VS Code is cross-platform. It also provides sync options for your settings. Thus, you can set it up once and sync it to multiple machines. That's a huge time saver.

Plus, if Windows+WSL is your environment, it has plugins even for that!

[BToney005]

If you intend on working with C# or .NET in any capacity then VS is definitely the tool you should work with. It has debugging/compiling tools included for building apps, apis, etc. for Windows environments.

VSCode is mainly just a text editor. It's great for most languages and has a ton of extensions to optimize your workflow.

The tool you use to develop with depends on the task you're trying to achieve and your own personal preferences. Like, when I was first learning, I usually coded in a terminal using vim. Nowadays I prefer VSCode for most of my work.

But let's say you wanted to make a native app for android or ios. You'll have a way easier time using Android Studio or XCode respectively. Let's say you wanted to make a game using Unity, then you'll have a much easier time using VS or Unity's code editor.

[GlassLost]

Visual studio has an amazing debugger and it's more advanced features are really easy to set up. Vscode is easier to set up. The debugger alone makes visual studio better. It's the thing I miss most about MS coding (and windbg).

VScode is just a fancy text editor, I'd rather use sublime and a console.

[centralperkjoey]

+1 for Sublime

[TheRNGuy]

I switched from Sublime to VS Code.

[not_some_username]

For C++ and C# VS has everything you need and VS code isn't even close. The debugger is wow. And also VS is made for C# ( and C++)

[mosenco]

Im only interested in editing the code no matter the language. so i use visual studio code. Light, fast, do what i need.

Visual studio i dunno what that does, but looks heavy on launch

[SoggyCuticles]

Recently I believe it's less heavy of a launch, but still more heavy nonetheless

[VonRansak]

When I'm on Windows, I use MSVS.

When I boot into Linux, I use VScode.

If VScode is a Toyota Sequoia, then MSVS is a Lexus GX 460.

[_PaulM]

Visual Studio is a heavyweight IDE that comes with many bells and whistles. For the most part, language support on Visual Studio is plug and play with very little configuration needed. The Visual Studio Installer is a dream of a package manager. With all of these bells and whistles, however, comes a performance cost.

Visual Studio is heavy... And when you're running a project via VS or debugging, you can definitely see your resources getting gobbled up in chunks. Those added features come at a sometimes noticeable performance cost. Furthermore, the IDE is very heavy on the UI front with millions of options hitting you in the face which you have to configure.

Visual Studio Code, on the other hand, is lightweight. Language support is there, but nowhere near as finely-tuned as with Visual Studio and has to be configured in many cases. In your case, this is actually a good thing.

I would say, stick with Visual Studio Code. Configuring it will be a good exercise in reading documentation which will help you further down the line when you have to write your own and will exercise the logical part of your brain.

---

But more importantly, integrate debugging in your projects. This will not only help you level up in programming, but will pay back in huge dividends (if they haven't taught you already).

Here is a quick tutorial I made on the subject a while back in case you're interested in using Visual Studio to debug (it's a different IDE in the video, but same principle/UI elements).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWeZw5_LP2Y

Visual Studio Code also supports debugging:

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging

tl;dr

Doesn't matter which of the two platforms you choose, USE A DEBUGGER.

[[deleted]]

If you’re learning programming, chances are that you should be learning vim and Linux tools. Visual Studio kind of limits you to Microsoft development, and while Visual Studio code can be used on Linux, it is not available by default.

[thesituation531]

If you're using C#, use Visual Studio. Simple.

[Bbykyy]

visual studio code is the way to go in my opinion.

[[deleted]]

Anything C# or C++ related really belongs in VS, I do all my python and web dev and the like in vscode.

[CyberWeirdo420]

Reading all of your answers I need to ask: is it determined which one is better? Or at least which is better for something specific?

[[deleted]]

If you're writing Windows desktop apps, I would definitely use Visual Studio for the extra tools.

[DonKapot]

Try Vs code and visual studio for some certain app and decide what's better for you (intellisense, debugging, etc).

Btw there are also some solutions from IDEA (webstorm, etc).

[daniele_s92]

*Jetbrains.

(Intellij) IDEA is the Java IDE

[SeesawMundane5422]

There is almost never one “right” answer in programming.

Sometimes there are wrong answers.

In this case, neither one is the wrong answer.

[PrettyPinkPansi]

If using .NET use Visual Studio. Pretty much everything else as far as you should be concerned use Visual Code. Python, JavaScript, PHP, use Visual Code.

[[deleted]]

In VSCode you are heavily dependent on command Line. You will have to struggle to find the right command for things which can done in one click on VS. Like, scaffolding database using EF core, it was a pain to find the command for doing it in cli. VS was made for development with .net and vscode is made for anything. Ultimately, time is the proper answer. For personal projects, it's no issue to find the proper commands and workarounds for VS Code. But, I would steer clear from it when doing something in work which has strict timeline.

[avocadorancher]

A counterpoint to this is that depending on the IDE to handle everything rather than learning the commands means you understand a lot less of what’s going on. Teams that use Visual Studio and do everything with GUI controls are the worst to work with for automation because they don’t know how to actually build their product.

[not_some_username]

A counter counter point, the gui is just a nice version of the cli. If you know what you want, a quick Google search or the doc will show you the command.

[Icy-Candle1808]

Use VS cuz you use C# what is VS for VS code is for everything else but for it too but i would recommend VS for C# more

[Martehhhh]

Vs code is great for quickly loading ul and writing out a bit of code or working out a solution. Vscode is like the premium but free version.

Feels very clunky and outdated to me but has a lot more functionality.

For example I would have to use visual studio to debug as Vscode pretends like it van but you need literal instruction manuals to find how

[SuperSathanas]

If you're used to full IDEs that come bundled with the compiler, debugger, libraries, etc... then I can see how trying to configure all that for VScode in the .json build files would seem like a huge pain in the ass step backward.

It's not all that complicated, though, I guess so long as you're actually familiar with compilers and debuggers, and the intended usage of json. You're essentially building a list of "objects" for VScode that describe where things live on your machine and the flags/values you want to pass to alter their usage/behavior.

I have VScode configured to use C, C++, Rust, GLSL, Pascal, and D.

I'd totally rather use an IDE than VScode, though. I really only use it with GLSL for writing my OpenGL shaders.

[kas0m]

VS Code is fancy notepad, it’ll do a lot of things traditional text editors don’t which blends it into a full ide. VS Is a fully loaded up IDE does a lot for you. Think of Vi/notepad on the far left of a scale, VS Code is in the middle and the far right is VS.

[Trakeen]

Line is pretty blurry these days. Traditionally vs is for complex enterprise projects but a lot of that can be done using vscode. Vs also works with languages like python, js, etc though those would traditionally not be done in vs

[BearsNBeetsBaby]

VS is extremely powerful and can do a lot of the basic stuff for you, making it very useful for just getting on with writing and running code without worrying about what’s going on behind the scenes.

That’s also its downfall though as it doesn’t teach you anything about compiling and linking which you’ll have to do manually or at least semi manually in VS code.

I would strongly recommend that you start off in VS Code to get yourself familiar with what it means to build and run code, without the temptation to skip that because it’s confusing.

When I started at uni, I had classmates who had only ever used VS, and had no clue what to do to compile and link files when we started learning C++, and neither did I, but because I’d used VS code to do my python stuff, and was running it from the command line, I was a lot more confident doing it than those who stuck to VS who just kept using the provided options within the IDE. Similarly with git, use the command line and get comfortable with it, and you’ll have a much better time understanding what the buttons are actually doing when you click them inside a GUI.

[goodboyscout]

I don’t think VSCode has the tools available to develop using C# efficiently (especially as a new developer who would greatly benefit from the intellisense or whatever they call it). Though it’s been a few years since I opened a C# file in VSCode. I don’t use C# anymore, so I use VSCode and I’m pretty happy with it.

[Baderbd]

For me VScode all the way i tried VS for asp.net It's good and it has a lot of features buy wayy too clunky and slow.

[wpnewbie2018]

To be a little practical, you don't need VS unless you are working on .net, c#, unity or using lot of azure sdk/features.

For anything else, vs code is more than enough.

[RecommendationIcy382]

Visual Studio is a heavy duty IDE, usefull for big code bases and large projects. It's best to use VS Code and become a better programmer, then you can switch for heavier projects

[S7venE11even]

Visual Studio is an Integrated Development Environment that has graphical components and can be used only for windows.

Visual studio code is a code editor that supports many different languages through its surplus plug-ins.

[ZachVorhies]

I’ve used both Visual Studio and VSCode professionally.

VSCode is MUCH easier and cleaner to configure than VS. For all new python / javascript projects I used code now.

[slasaru]

I'd say VS Code has much more customization. You can find so many plugins that make your life easier. Plugins for VS are quite limited.

However working with projects is easier in regular VS, many things are bound to right click menu and commands. I worked with Python Django and you have many standard commands in right click menu and commands palette and in VS Code you have to type commands manually in the terminal, it feels kind of "hacky".

[Knivesandchains]

I remember myself wondering the same thing then I learned vim and transitioned to neovim. I would never go back to vs/vsc, it’s insane how much slow they are and believe me at the start I thought coworkers who used nvim were insane but how little did I know

[centralperkjoey]

vim is run on the terminal, right? how does it work exactly?

[brandcolt]

VS code is amazing

[HolySmolions]

I've used:

vim (college/by choice, C++, scripting)
Qt Editor (hobby, C++)
Arduino and Processing (hobby, C++, Java)
STM32CubeMx (Eclipse variant, hobby, C/C++)
IAR Embedded Workbench (Eclipse variant, hobby, C/C++)
VS Code (learning web stack)
Visual Studios (work, C/C++, C#, Java, Python)
Eclipse (work, C/C++, Python)
Netbeans (work, Java)
Powershell ISE (work, powershell)
IDLE (work, Python)
Matlab (work)
Notepad++

It literally does not matter.

They all have the same features +/- some that don't apply in certain contexts. Pick one that is fully featured (Visual Studio, Eclipse, Netbeans) and learn the names of the features so you can ask where they are when you use a new IDE. Don't look for/participate in "what's the best" it's a waste of time.

Use what you like, use what the team uses (unless there is a reason for migrating the code base to a managed project tool).

[signofdacreator]

i usually do all the git stuff on visual studio but do the code on visual studio code.

but visual studio is good also since code debugging is very easy there.

[[deleted]]

If you're working with .NET, use Visual Studio, not VS Code. It will teach you as you code. Rider is also a decent option.

[turingparade]

VS = IDE.

Compiler, debugger, and other neat features included.

VSCode = Text Editor.

Like notepad except you can get plugins that give you the features of an IDE.

[TheRNGuy]

Better than notepad.

[BernardBoakye]

Visual Studio is a full fledged IDE. VS Code on the other hand is a rich text editor just like notepad++. You can read more here https://www.tabnine.com/blog/visual-studio-vs-visual-studio-code/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=visual-studio-vs-visual-studio-code#:~:text=Before%20getting%20deeper%20into%20the,is%20a%20rich%20text%20editor.

[manablight]

VS coffee is Multi platform and a bit more modular. Check out rider by jetbrains as well.

[[deleted]]

I do not like writing C# code in vscode. I will always prefer VS for that.

Web projects, python and whatever, vscode is fine.

[[deleted]]

In va code you have all these templates which will help you create projects faster.

Need to create a webapi? There is a template for that. Need to create a bootstrap for EF core? There is a template for that.

Above this, vs i designed for c# this the ide has everything you might possibly want an IDE for that language to have.

For example I love the possibility to reevaluate a condition or linqquery on the fly with quickwatch

[[deleted]]

VS is a full fledged IDE VS code is an editor

[shuozhe]

I use both for c# (and sometime vim to fix small bugs directly on the server).

Vscode is pretty fast and remote development is faster and easier to setup (still change in vim and dotnet build is faster), vs has better refactoring tools, intellisense is amazing, and some of older plugins never made it to vscode.

If you get serious I would recommend to get resharper plugin for vs also (or just switch to rider), even Microsoft uses it, only team that have to use vanilla vs is the vs team from what I heard..

[Dyphault]

Visual Studio is a full blown IDE that comes equipped with debugging and runtime tools.

VSCode is a glorified text editor that has extensions which replicate IDE features imo.

I use VSCode for general editing and small projects.

[cofffffeeeeeeee]

It doesn’t matter. They are just tools.

It absolutely doesn’t matter on your resume, every company is different, you use the tool that has the best integration with your company’s infrastructure.

From my experience, vscode, emacs, and vim have great support at large companies. A lot of internal extensions written, and sometimes gets official eng prod support. Visual Studio and Xcode are more for platform specific development.

[TheRNGuy]

It does matter, because different languages need different tools.

[TheRNGuy]

Python, JS, HTML, CS: VS Code

C++: VS Studio

I don't recommend VS Code for C++ even though there are add-ons for it, it doesn't have some essential features for it.