Visual Studio Code Has Surprisingly Huge Linux Use & Other Developer Metrics

[woprandi]

I'm actually surprised that people keep on using VS Code. It is a heavy, slow, text editor with terrible support for language features via the language-server, which is both a huge pain to set up, and terrible at doing its job. (Or you could use the cloud-based language servers, eek!)
Changing over to another IDE e.g. the Jetbrains stuff (I know, not fair comparison), you really realize how much of the basic stuff is missing.

I have colleagues whom use it, but then complain that their IDE didn't spot the syntax errors when they create a PR that doesn't even compile. Yet refuse to use anything else.

(Sorry, Rant over)

If VSCode is heavy, how are Jetbrains stuff ?

[Guest]

I'm actually surprised that people keep on using VS Code. It is a heavy, slow, text editor with terrible support for language features via the language-server, which is both a huge pain to set up, and terrible at doing its job. (Or you could use the cloud-based language servers, eek!)
Changing over to another IDE e.g. the Jetbrains stuff (I know, not fair comparison), you really realize how much of the basic stuff is missing.

I have colleagues whom use it, but then complain that their IDE didn't spot the syntax errors when they create a PR that doesn't even compile. Yet refuse to use anything else.

(Sorry, Rant over)

You forgot to mention it's from Microsoft, which is more than enough to refuse using it.

[vein]

Hmm...

I think I am in a minority but I actually like Atom more than VSCode.
But basically I use Atom for golang, rust, C++
VSCode for C#, Dart (Although I am experimenting with neovim and omnisharp server for C#)
Apache Netbeans for Java

I do not like Jetbrains products at all.

[kpedersen]

It is a heavy, slow, text editor with terrible support for language features via the language-server,

Agreed. However, as heavy as the tool is; it allows developers to stay a bit more flexible than the actual Visual Studio IDE.
For example it allows them to use more suitable or more innovative compilers (like Emscripten, cross compilers, Android NDK) rather than the ancient Microsoft cl.

VSCode is a bit shitty but it is basically a text editor and allows developers to be more proactive with build systems and scripts. It basically empowers my colleagues to stop sitting on their arse and expect their fat IDE do every thing for them. Their use of version control has much improved now that they have switched to the CLI rather than whatever the hell Visual Studio (IDE) was doing.

And the best thing is it has knocked the Visual Studio (IDE) off top spot in developer surveys so they can't use the excuse of "but 'tis the industry standard" when I call them out on their lazy bullshit.

I don't use it though; nvi (with hacks) 4 lyfe!

[L_A_G]

I'd probably be surprised too if it wasn't my go-to editor for smaller projects written in C++, Python, JavaScript or (more recently) PHP. When it came out I was pretty skeptical, but decided to give it a go as it was free and was thoroughly impressed as it did everything I needed an application of it's kind to do and had a well designed UI. Maybe it is on the heavier side compared to really minimal editors with feature sets comparable to Nano (my go-to editor when working trough a remote shell), but I've never experienced any sluggish behavior. Maybe it doesn't fit everyone's use cases, but what tool ever does?

I occasionally see people pushing Sublime Text as an alternative and it does look like a good alternative with a very similar feature set and some nice additional touches, but having been raised to have the money sense of a Yorkshireman (thou I've never set foot there) I personally balk at paying $80 for a relatively simple text editor. I'd understand if we were talking about a full on IDE here, but a text editor for simple projects consisting of max a few source files shouldn't be the price of a collector's edition of a AAA video game title at launch.

[cl333r]

I agree. It feels like they just stitched a mini-file browser and some compile/run buttons and now it's an "IDE".

I'm surprised Visual Studio runs on Linux, natively. After a few minutes - I like it but couldn't find how to fold/unfold all functions in C++ file.
Yeah, feels like on top of some browser backend but it's not that slow. I'll give it a try.

On Ubuntu, to install:
sudo snap install --classic code
to run:
snap run code

[juzzlin]

Also not a huge fan of VSCode, either. It’s a great tool, but to me it sits in this hybrid ground of trying to fit to too many workflows and not succeeding at them too well. If you stick to the Microsoft supported extensions/toolkits it can be a great, reduced IDE for small to medium projects.

Most of my coworkers use VSCode (some mainline, some OSS build) and I do as well. For markdown its preview system is great and the Python integration is pretty damn good with picking up environments and autocompletion. And debugging is a great add, too. However, I still prefer using PyCharm and GoLand* for my projects/non one-off scripts. I’m not the biggest fan of having to load a bunch of extensions to get the functionality that I want, and I much prefer Sublime Text’s speed and shortcuts in comparison to VSCode’s. If I could get VSCode’s Intellisense, environment detection, and shell support back into Sublime I don’t think I’d have any use for VSCode.

It’s got some great tooling, I won’t deny that. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t irrationally feel a tad weird every time I open it.

* And should I want to, switch to IntelliJ, install the Python/GoLand/Rust/C++ plug-ins and continue on as if there was relatively no change in my environment. Reduced thinking about how different editors handle shortcuts and what not.

Cheers,
Mike

I'm using VSCode on Ubuntu because it was the first Python IDE that actually worked. I don't agree with people who say it's heavy. Wtf? Everything that JetBrains make is heavy. For C++ e.g. Qt Creator is much better.

[dremon_nl]

I have used VS Code for some time but switched almost entirely to JetBrains products. VS Code is not an IDE really but just a text editor. It lacks a lot of refactoring, debugging and navigational features that IntelliJ/CLion provide. Plugins are buggy. For simpler text editing Sublime works much better and is light years ahead in terms of performance because it doesn't use the Electron crap.
On the negative side JetBrains IDEs are quite slow and require a powerful PC with a lot of memory because they are based on JVM which sucks resources like a black hole. It can be really frustrating but the excellent IDE experience somewhat compensates that.

[DebianXFCE Jr]

You forgot to mention it's from Microsoft, which is more than enough to refuse using it.

Do you really find it to be a valid argument?

[ermo]

I recently tried switching to emacs + spacemacs with the ivy completion layer instead of the default helm layer and found myself liking its ergonomics and its git layer which includes magit. For console editing via SSH, I've found neovim + SpaceVim to work well and present roughly the same ergonomics (if not functionality) as Spacemacs to the point where I now use spacevim for smaller/simpler stuff when I'm in a Terminal anyway.

I've stayed away from Atom and VS Code for some reason. Probably mostly inertia if I'm honest. It's not like emacs or vim (spacemacs/spacevim notwithstanding) are shining beacons of usability in the traditional sense.