Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code,[9] is a source-code editor developed by Microsoft for web browsers, Windows, Linux and macOS.[10][11] Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, code refactoring, and embedded version control with Git. Users can change the theme, keyboard shortcuts, preferences, and install extensions that add functionality.
Not to be confused with Visual Studio.Developer(s)
April 29, 2015
/ 19 June 2024
Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, SUSE
- Windows:
91–95 MB - Debian/Ubuntu:
89–97 MB - Red Hat/Fedora/SUSE:
123–137 MB - macOS:
132–212 MB
15 languages
- Source code: MIT License[5]
- Binaries built by Microsoft: Proprietary software[6][7][8]
In the Stack Overflow 2023 Developer Survey, Visual Studio Code was ranked the most popular developer environment tool among 86,544 respondents, with 73.71% reporting that they use it. [12]
History[edit]
Visual Studio Code was first announced on April 29, 2015 by Microsoft at the 2015 Build conference. A preview build was released shortly thereafter.[13]
On November 18, 2015, the source code of Visual Studio Code was released under the MIT License and made available on GitHub. Extension support was also announced.[14] On April 14, 2016, Visual Studio Code graduated from the public preview stage and was released to the web.[15] Microsoft has released most of Visual Studio Code's source code on GitHub under the permissive MIT License,[5][16] while the editor itself is distributed by Microsoft as proprietary freeware.[7]
Reception[edit]
In the 2016 Developers Survey of Stack Overflow, Visual Studio Code ranked No. 13 among the top popular development tools, with only 7% of the 47,000 respondents using it.[33] Two years later, however, Visual Studio Code achieved the No. 1 spot, with 35% of the 75,000 respondents using it.[34] In the 2019 Developers Survey, Visual Studio Code was also ranked No. 1, with 50% of the 87,000 respondents using it.[35] The 2020 Developers Survey did not cover integrated development environments.[36] In the 2021 Developers Survey, Visual Studio Code continued to be ranked No. 1, with 74.5% of the 71,000 respondents using it,[37] 74.48% of the 71,010 responses in the 2022 survey,[38] and 73.71% of the 86,544 responses in the 2023 survey.[39]
Relevant incidents[edit]
CEC-IDE controversy[edit]
On June 20, 2023, during the Guangdong Province's Digital Government Innovation Development Forum held in Guangzhou, CEC-IDE was released and described as the first Chinese-produced integrated development tool.[40][41] However, CEC-IDE was subsequently found to be a rebranded release of Visual Studio Code that, among other things, failed to include a copy of the MIT license as required for redistributions. On June 26, Digital Guangdong published a statement, admitting that CEC-IDE is based on Visual Studio Code.[42]