Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code, often referred to as VS Code, is a free and lightweight yet highly functional code editor software made available by Microsoft. Having been released in the year 2015, it has since gained massive popularity as the world’s number one development software with 75% of the coding population using it as per Stack Overflow Developer Survey conducted in 2025.

As opposed to heavyweight and specialized IDEs, VS Code manages the fine line between being an ordinary text editor and a fully-fledged IDE. It loads almost instantly while using up very few computing resources; however, it has some professional-level capabilities such as IntelliSense and Git integration, among others.

VS Code stands out thanks to its extensibility. While it natively supports programming languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js, almost any other language (Python, Java, C++, Go, Rust, and more) can be supported with corresponding extensions available through the VS Code Marketplace (offering more than 40,000 extensions ) using the "lean core + extensions" philosophy.

VS Code is based on Electron framework, enabling it to work across Windows, Mac OS, and Linux operating systems with the same interface. In addition, there is a browser version of VS Code (vscode.dev) that allows one to edit files within a browser environment.

Updates are made to VS Code monthly with new features being implemented. Recently introduced improvements and enhancements (between 2025 and 2026) include AI integration and support of MCP protocols among others.

Key Features

Smart Code Completion: IntelliSense goes beyond mere autocomplete capabilities by considering the type of variables, functions, and modules that have been included in the code.

Built-In Debugging: Debug the code without having to leave the IDE; includes options such as breakpoints, call stacks, watch variables, and even a debugging console. It can be done directly in Node.js and other languages using plugins .

Git Support: Perform all the necessary tasks of Git without ever having to leave the IDE. The IDE includes built-in support for common Git tasks, but also allows for more complex Git operations from the terminal if required.

Command Palette: Access most of the available commands in VS Code from the keyboard using Ctrl + Shift + P .

Integrated Terminal: Multiple terminal sessions (PowerShell, Bash, Zsh, Git Bash, WSL) embedded into the editor. The working directory is set to the project’s root folder.

Extensions Marketplace: Over 40,000 extensions covering different programming languages, themes, debugging tools, linting tools, and other productivity boosters. Popular extensions include Prettier (code formatting), ESLint (code quality), Live Server, GitLens, and language packs.

Editing Multiple Cursor Locations: Editing several places at once by pressing Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) and clicking or pressing Ctrl+Shift+L to select all instances of a word.

Configurable Settings: Everything can be customized in the Settings UI or via JSON files. User settings are applied universally; Workspace settings can override specific projects.

Remote Development: Connecting and developing inside a remote environment using SSH, containers, or WSL through Remote Development extensions

Live Share: Collaborative live code-editing and debugging. Several users can edit the same piece of code and debug it using terminal sharing on various platforms.

Web Version: VS Code for Web (vscode.dev) provides an option to edit your local file and even repositories on GitHub in browser without installing anything.

Insiders: Nightly release version of VS Code that gets all the new features. It is downloadable parallel to the official version.

Zen Mode: Full screen coding distraction-free environment.