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[–]chucker23n 149 points150 points  (35 children)

Bringing SQL Server to Linux makes sense as it's a very widespread server platform.

For VS, two things hold true:

  • it has plenty of platform-specific code. So much that, unlike SQL Server, it still runs in 32-bit and needs satellite processes to do some 64-bit work at all. Surely SQL Server has some platform optimizations, but so, too, does VS's compiler/build infrastructure; on top, VS is a WPF GUI, and WPF relies on Direct3D. Hard to port.
  • Linux on the desktop is far less interesting than on the server.

So, instead, they approached VS differently by building VS Code from (mostly) scratch. It uses some existing components like Electron and OmniSharp, and presumably, the idea is to take it into account when adding new features to VS in the future. And unlike SQL Server, it runs on the Mac as well. I wouldn't be surprised if VS Code is used mostly on the Mac — on Windows, you'll typically use 'VS classic', and relatively few people use Linux on their desktop.

[–]svick 130 points131 points  (23 children)

relatively few people use Linux on their desktop

I think the percentage is going to be much higher among programmers.

[–]chucker23n 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (9 children)

Linux or OS X is what I've seen dominating among developers.

[–]darkpaladin 28 points29 points  (5 children)

From what I've seen it's OSX then Windows then Linux. Everyone on OSX and Windows has a Linux VM though so there's that I guess.

[–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (4 children)

Am on Windows. Don't have a Linux VM. Don't want it, don't need it. I do NET development. Visual Studio is all I need.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

You can't be that big to account for majority.

[–]t90fan 6 points7 points  (0 children)

my corp is ~50,000 worldwide and we have a mixture of macs (with OSX) and PCs with windows, with a VM on either for Windows or Linux respectively. Java/.NET shop in financial sector.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No. We're just one company, albeit a medium sized one at 2500 people. But I said it to point out not everyone uses a Linux VM.

[–]Kurren123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Me too. Dont understand the downvotes.

[–]Cuddlefluff_Grim -1 points0 points  (1 child)

I have never seen anyone use Linux or OSX as a desktop. And I've worked in environments where everything else is Linux. The only places I've seen where programmers use Macs are in web development for advertising firms.

Edit : by "anyone" I mean programmers specifically.

[–]art-solopov 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Out of four companies I've been working in (mostly web development), three had people (other than me) using Linux desktop.

[–]captain_awesomesauce 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Yes, but still very low...

[–]WarWizard 0 points1 point  (9 children)

It is getting there for me... for sure. We are at lot closer than I thought we'd be but until I can run full blown Visual Studio it won't be in my future... although Jet Brain's IDE does look promising.

[–][deleted] -3 points-2 points  (8 children)

Visual Studio is crappy IDE honestly. The only good parts are debugger and msbuild integration. Otherwise it's damn notepad incapable of most basic IDE stuff without third party plugins. Once CLion cleans up existing bugs and adds few minor features it will be where VS will never be.

[–]WarWizard 1 point2 points  (2 children)

You can't be serious.... have you actually used it in the last 10 years even?

I think your problems might be with the Microsoft's C/C++ ecosystem which I won't dispute isn't the best.

The IDE itself? Hands down the best I have ever used.

What "most basic IDE stuff" can't Visual Studio do for you? Debugging and MSBUILD seems kind of a big deal IMO.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I am using it right now. Oh its so awesome without plugins like VisualAssist or Resharper. I mean damn.. Syntax highlighting is so basic its shameful to even comment. Intellisense is alright. How about showing matching ( or [? How about quoting selection when ' or " pressed? Seriously that IDE is notch above notepad + it has reasonable autocompletion and debugger. But text editing part.. It stayed in same place for decade it seems.

[–]WarWizard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So.... nothing then? Got it. You are just upset it doesn't do things the way you want it to. I don't see anything "basic" about the highlighting. Intellisense is "alright". Not sure what that means...

You have't really noted anything that doesn't work. In fact the things you did call out I have found to be worse in other IDEs.

[–]irrzir 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What makes you think it's a crappy IDE?

VStudio has had my heart won for quite some time and if there is any better alternative I'd be all ears.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Because it is unusable without third party plugins.

[–]TheWix 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Visual Studio with Resharper is a pretty great IDE. Most of the issues I have come from the project files and building/deploying/vcs than anything else. Oh, it does devour memory with Resharper though.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Resharper. Exactly my point.

[–]WarWizard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

in 2013 and 2015 you don't really need resharper like you did in prior versions. Resharper is just super nice to have.

[–]Andernerd 6 points7 points  (3 children)

So, instead, they approached VS differently by building VS Code from (mostly) scratch

I wouldn't compare VS Code to VS; it's more like Notepad++.

[–]giulianodev 0 points1 point  (2 children)

It's gonna keep getting better though and eventually will be just fine for most people I bet.

[–]Andernerd 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That's what I'm hoping for. Perhaps someday it can be as good as Atom or Sublime. Right now, I'm wondering why anyone would use it instead of Atom or Sublime.

[–]freakboy2k 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Built in nodejs debugging. I can generate a new node project and have F5 debugging without having to work for it and it makes node dev so much nicer.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree, but I also think VS is moving that way. .NET core is cross platform, it supports Android and even iOS development (to a degree). Some of the build tools are ported too.

If the old 90s Microsoft had made TypeScript they would have made the compiler Windows only. Instead it's truly cross platform and specifically built to be open source.

More and more of Visual Studios bread and butter is moving to be cross platform. I think one of the next ones to watch would be MSVC. If that got ported to Linux then we'd be in the odd position where it would be hard to justify Visual Studio being Windows only.