Visual Studio Code

Overview

Visual Studio Code (VS Code for short) is a free, open source, cross-platform lightweight source code editor developed by Microsoft, supporting Windows, macOS and Linux. It is based on the Electron framework (Node.js and Chromium), written in TypeScript, and combined with a powerful extension ecosystem, it provides IDE-like features such as debugging, embedded Git control, code completion and terminal integration. VS Code supports 100+ programming languages and is widely used in Web development, Python, C++, data science and DevOps. As of 2025, the latest stable version is 1.97 (April 2025), with more than 25 million monthly active users and more than 170K GitHub stars, making it one of the most popular code editors.

History and Development

• Origin:
  • In April 2015, Microsoft released VS Code at the Build conference, positioning it as a lightweight, cross-platform editor, different from the heavyweight features of Visual Studio IDE.
  • Based on Electron and Monaco editors (consistent with VS 2019+), open source on GitHub, following the MIT license.
• Important Milestones:
  • 2016: Version 1.0 was released, supporting the Extensions Marketplace, adding debugging and Git integration, and the number of downloads increased rapidly.
  • 2017-2018: Introducing remote development (Remote SSH, WSL, Dev Containers), multi-root workspaces, and TypeScript/JavaScript enhancements to attract Web and cloud developers.
  • 2019: Launched Settings Sync (now Profiles) to synchronize configurations to the cloud; Live Share enables real-time collaborative programming.
  • 2020-2023: Optimize performance (startup time <1 second), support ARM64 (Apple Silicon), introduce Jupyter integration (data science), Markdown preview enhancements and GitHub Copilot (AI-assisted coding).
  • 2024-2025: Version 1.97 (April 2025) optimizes memory management, supports WebAssembly debugging, Python 3.12+ and dark mode improvements. VS Code for Web (code-server) extends cloud development.
• Community-driven:
  • GitHub community is active, with over 25,000 extensions and monthly updates (about once every 4 weeks).
  • Microsoft collaborates with the community to support multiple languages (20+ language interfaces, 100+ code highlights).

Main features

VS Code provides flexible and powerful editing functions, combined with an extended ecosystem to meet a variety of development needs. The following are the core features:

1. Code editing and language support
   • Syntax highlighting and completion: Supports 100+ languages (Python, JavaScript, C++, Go, etc.), provides intelligent completion (IntelliSense, based on the language server protocol LSP), parameter prompts and code snippets.
   • Code navigation: Supports definition jumps, outline view, breadcrumb navigation and multi-cursor editing, and quickly locates and refactors code.
   • Formatting and refactoring: Built-in code formatting (Prettier, ESLint), supports refactoring (variable renaming, extracting methods).
2. Debugging and testing
   • Built-in debugger: Supports languages such as Node.js, Python, C++, set breakpoints, monitor variables and call stacks.
   • Test integration: Run and debug test cases through extensions (such as Jest, Mocha, Pytest), and display coverage.
   • Multiple debugging sessions: Supports debugging multiple processes (such as frontend and backend) at the same time.
3. Extension ecosystem
   • Extension Market: Over 25,000 extensions, covering language support (Go, Rust), tools (Docker, Kubernetes), themes (Dracula, One Dark Pro) and AI (GitHub Copilot).
   • Popular extensions:
     • Python: Jupyter integration, Linting (Pylance), environment management.
     • Live Server: Real-time preview of HTML/CSS/JS.
     • ESLint/Prettier: JavaScript/TypeScript code specifications.
     • GitLens: Enhanced Git commit history and code attribution.
   • Custom extension: Developers can create extensions and publish them to the Marketplace.
4. Git and version control
   • Built-in Git: Supports commits, branches, merges, conflict resolution, and displays difference views.
   • GitHub integration: Directly manage Pull Requests, Issues, support Codespaces (cloud development environment).
   • Extended support: GitLens, Git Graph enhanced visualization.
5. Remote development and cloud support
   • Remote development: Develop in a remote server or container through Remote SSH, WSL and Dev Containers, and isolate the environment.
   • VS Code for Web: Browser running (https://vscode.dev), supports basic editing, and requires extensions for additional functions.
   • Profiles: Synchronize settings, extensions and shortcuts, and switch seamlessly across devices.
6. Other features
   • Integrated terminal: Built-in PowerShell, Bash or CMD, support for multi-terminal parallel.
   • Task automation: Configure compilation, build or test tasks through tasks.json.
   • Themes and customization: 100+ themes, adjust icons, fonts, layouts, and support dark/light mode switching.
   • Markdown support: real-time preview, export PDF/HTML, suitable for document writing.

Advantages and limitations

Advantages

• Free and open source: MIT license, no ads, transparent GitHub source code, active community.
• Cross-platform: Supports Windows, macOS, Linux and Web, ARM64 is well optimized.
• Lightweight and efficient: fast startup (<1 second), moderate memory usage (about 200-500MB), better than heavyweight IDE.
• Extended ecosystem: 25,000+ extensions, covering languages, tools, AI, and flexibility comparable to IDE.
• Remote development: Remote SSH, Dev Containers and Codespaces support cloud and containerized development.
• Community support: Microsoft updates monthly, Stack Overflow and GitHub Issues provide quick answers.

Limitations

• Incomplete IDE: Debugging and project management are not as powerful as Visual Studio or IntelliJ IDEA, and need to be supplemented by extensions.
• Electron performance: Based on Electron, the memory usage is higher than Notepad++ (about 4MB), and large projects may lag.
• Extension dependency: The core functions are streamlined, and extensions need to be installed to achieve complete functions (such as Python Linting, Docker management), and the configuration is complicated.
• Learning curve: Newcomers may be confused by extension selection and settings (such as tasks.json, launch.json).
• Web version limitations: VS Code for Web lacks terminal, debugging and some extension support, and needs to be supplemented by local installation.

Summary

Visual Studio Code is a powerful, cross-platform open source code editor. With its lightweight design, rich extensions and remote development support, it has become the preferred tool for Web development, Python, data science and DevOps. Since its release in 2015, VS Code has been continuously updated by Microsoft and the community, with over 25 million monthly active users and an extended ecosystem covering almost all development scenarios. Although the Electron framework leads to high memory usage and core functions rely on extensions, its flexibility, high customizability and modern UI make it surpass Notepad++ (lightweight but only for Windows) and some IDEs. It is suitable for a variety of scenarios from beginners to professional developers, such as web development, server scripts and cloud projects. If you need a lighter editing, choose Notepad++; if you need a complete IDE, choose Visual Studio.