What Makes VSCode so Popular?

Visual Studio Code is bae

VSCode is bae. Image from https://code.visualstudio.com/. Edited by the Author.

Visual Studio Code (VSCode) is the most popular development environment, period. If you need proof, here’s the Stack Overflow Survey from 2019, although it would’ve gotten even more popular by today. Like the objective majority, I love VSCode.

Before you call me a ‘soydev’, YES, I have gotten my toes wet using other text editors/IDEs, such as Vim (I use Vim bindings everywhere) and the Jetbrains suite. Yet, I always come back to finish up my code projects on VSCode. There’s a reason for why anything happens, and this is no exception.

It really boils down to a few major factors that propell VSCode above its alternatives.

Stick around as I explain this phenomenon, that is Visual Studio Code!

Jack of all Trades, Master of None

Realize how I had referred VSCode earlier in this article as a “development environment,” not as an IDE nor text editor. This is deliberate: from how you see it, VSCode is both or neither any of them. Despite the irony, this makes it seem more of a compelling choice than others.

Take speed and resource usage for example. Text editors and IDEs are polar opposites in this aspect. Stuff like Vim and…