Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code 2023 Which is better?
Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code 2023: Which is better? Is Visual Studio better than Visual Studio Code? Should I install Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code 2023? Is VS Code the same as Visual Studio Code?
These are the questions that have been debated for years, and there are definitely pros and cons for each editor. In this post, we’ll take a look at the two editors and compare their features and benefits. Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code 2023.
Which is the better visual studio or visual studio code?
There are many code editors out there, but now we are going to learn Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code 2023, Which is the better code editor? In this blog post, we will compare the two editors and help you decide which one is the best fit for your needs.
Visual Studio Code (VSCODE)
If you just need something to write your code with speed and efficiency VSCode is for you, it is lightweight and thus works on minimal configuration. And you do have the option to add features to it when you need them.
And for languages that do not need an IDE VSCode is one of the best options. There are a lot of features (auto-completion, debug, Intellisence, CodeLens, Live Share, etc.
VS Code is kind of what can be called an “advanced text editor”, just like Atom or Sublime Text. It has many plugins that are intended to organize work with projects in certain languages. It is cross-platform, you can use it on Linux, Windows, and Mac.
What is Visual Studio Code used for?
There are the main features and uses of Visual Studio Code (VSCODE) 2023:
- Free open-source text editor
- Has IntelliSense (but it doesn’t work out of the box if Visual Studio is not installed, needs to configure to point to MinGW, etc.)
- Smaller download size and RAM requirements. IntelliSense, it requires around 300 MB RAM.
- It works on lower-end PCs. (it is still slow to start up, especially if PowerShell is used instead of CMD)
- Lower support (open source, so you can modify it yourself)
- Build tasks are project specific. Even if you want to build it in a vanilla configuration.
- Mostly used for web development (this applies to all free text editors). They tend to show off JavaScript / HTML support over C/C++. Visual Studio shows off Visual Basic/C++ over other languages.
- Lack of good extensions (it’s still new though)
- Gives you a hard time reconfiguring your project/workspace settings. I prefer the GUI way.
- It has Cross-platform capability.
- Has an integrated terminal (PowerShell is too slow at startup though)
- It is best for smaller projects and test code (you know if you are bored and want to print “Hello, World!”, it does not make sense to wait 3-5 minutes while Visual Studio loads up, and then another minute or 2 at project creation and then finally getting it to print “Hello, World!”).
Visual Studio Code (VSCODE) Tutorial 2023
Which is the best Code Editor in 2023?
Next, let’s learn Visual Studio vs Visual Studio Code 2023. This advanced text/code editor provides syntax highlight (mostly based on regular expression but not lexical analysis), simple code completion, source control integration, and debug functions. Besides these functions, VSC can write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (inherited from Atom), TypeScript, and simple C# support (these two were developed by Microsoft).
VSC also supports plugins that significantly extend its abilities. Visual Studio Code is just a text editor with some light functionalities even though it can write codes like Visual Studio does.
Visual Studio Code is a lightweight code editor along the lines of Sublime. It supports certain Visual Studio features like Intellisense and git integration, but you don’t directly run apps from it (though through continuous integration you can deploy stuff like web apps straight to production). Visual Studio Code is available on Windows, OSX, and Linux.
Microsoft Visual Studio IDE
On the other hand, if you are a professional programmer who needs a lot of resources to develop a project Visual Studio will be the better option and I guess you still get all the features of VSCode in Visual Studio. But things will go slower and heavy on resources.
Visual Studio Community is a full-fledged IDE that compiles and runs Windows Apps (Desktop and UWP) and Web Apps, amongst many others. It has advanced debugging and code-testing tools. It is only available on Windows.
What is Microsoft Visual Studio used for?
These are the main features and uses of Microsoft Visual Studio 2023:
- It is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
- Except for free editions, it is a paid IDE.
- It is quite heavy on CPU and lags on lower-end PCs.
- It is mostly used for Windows software development including DirectX programs, Windows API, etc.
- Advanced IntelliSense (best one ever; Visual Studio Code’s IntelliSense extension takes second place)
- It features built-in debuggers, and easy-to-configure project settings (though developers tend to not use the GUI ones)
- Microsoft support (more than Visual Studio Code)
- Mostly used for C/C++ (Windows), .NET, and C# projects along with SQL Server, database, etc.
- Extreme large download size, space utilization, and slowdowns over time.
- It is the only con that forces me to use Visual Studio Code for smaller projects*
- Includes tools to generate dependency graphs. Refactoring tools have great support for Visual Studio.
- It has a WYSIWYG (pronounced wiz-ee-wig) for VB.NET, C++.NET, and C#. (It is easy enough for first-time users instead of getting through
windows.h
)
Visual Studio is aimed to be the world’s best IDE (Integrated Development Environment), which provides full stack development toolsets including a powerful code completion component called IntelliSense, a debugger that can debug both source code and machine code, everything about ASP.NET development and something about SQL development.
Visual Studio has a really long history (you can find it on Wikipedia) and is mainly written by C++, C#, and WPF (this is a reason why Visual Studio is only available on Windows, but not the only reason). In the latest version of Visual Studio, you can develop cross-platform applications without leaving IDE.
And Visual Studio takes more than 8GB of disk space (according to the components you select). In brief, Visual Studio is the ultimate development environment, and it’s quite heavy.
Final Words
f you’re looking for a free, open-source, and powerful development environment, then Visual Studio Code is the best option. However, if you want a more user-friendly interface with an easy-to-use editor that can be used on both Windows and Linux machines, then Visual Studio is the way to go.
Both programs offer powerful features that will help you create high-quality software, but which one is right for you? Let us know in the comments below!