Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is an integrated development environment developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, macOS and web browsers. 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 and preferences, as well as install extensions that add functionality, including to extend its capabilities to function as an IDE for other languages.
Visual Studio Code is proprietary software released under the "Microsoft Software License", but based on the MIT licensed program named "Visual Studio CodeOpen Source", also created by Microsoft and available through GitHub.
In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, out of over 49,000 responses, 75.9% of respondents reported using Visual Studio Code, more than twice the percentage of respondents who reported using its nearest alternative, Visual Studio.
History
Visual Studio Code was first announced on April 29, 2015, by Microsoft at the 2015 Build conference. A preview build was released shortly thereafter.On November 18, 2015, the project "Visual Studio CodeOpen Source", on which Visual Studio Code is based, was released under the open-source MIT License and made available on GitHub.
Extension support was also announced. On April 14, 2016, Visual Studio Code graduated from the public preview stage and was released to the web.
Features
Code editor
Visual Studio Code includes a source-code editor that can be used with a variety of programming languages, including C, C#, C++, Fortran, Go, Java, JavaScript, Node.js, Python, Rust, and Julia. Visual Studio Code employs the same editor component used in Azure DevOps.The downloadable version of Visual Studio Code is built on the Electron framework, which is used to develop Node.js web applications that run on the Blink layout engine. Visual Studio Code for the Web is a browser-based version of the editor that can be used to edit both local files and remote repositories without installing the full program. It is officially supported and hosted by Microsoft and can be accessed at.
Out of the box, Visual Studio Code includes basic support for most common programming languages. This basic support includes syntax highlighting, bracket matching, code folding, and configurable snippets. Visual Studio Code also ships with IntelliSense for JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, CSS, and HTML, as well as debugging support for Node.js. Support for additional languages can be provided by freely available extensions on the VS Code Marketplace.
Debugging
VS Code features a built-in debugger designed to enhance the development process. It provides native support for debugging Node.js applications, while additional debuggers for other programming languages can be installed via extensions. The debugger allows developers to attach to running processes and step through source code line-by-line during execution, offering a detailed view of program flow. It can also display disassembly for low-level analysis in C++. Furthermore, users can set breakpointseither standard or conditionalto pause execution at specific points and examine the program's state, while also monitoring variable values in real-time as the code runs.An interactive feature of VS Code's debugging toolkit is the Debug Console. This panel is integrated directly into the debugging session, enabling users to evaluate expressions, such as checking variable values or testing functions, and execute commands on the fly. This functionality provides developers with greater control and deeper insight into the program's behavior.
File management and workspace
Instead of a project system, VS Code allows users to open one or more directories, which can then be saved in workspaces for future reuse. This allows it to operate as a language-agnostic code editor for any language. It supports many programming languages and a set of features that differ per language. Unwanted files and folders can be excluded from the project tree via settings.[|Command Palette]
Many Visual Studio Code features are not exposed through menus or the user interface but can be accessed via the Command Palette. The Command Palette is able to execute virtually every feature the graphical interface supports, making it very keyboard-accessible.Integrated terminal
Visual Studio Code provides a fully featured integrated terminal that opens at the root of the current workspace, allowing users to run shell commands without leaving the editor environment. It can be toggled via View → Terminal, the Command Palette, or the keyboard shortcut. Users may open multiple terminals in tabs or split panes, rename them, and kill sessions individually, directly within the editor UI.This terminal hosts any shell installed on the system—Bash, Zsh, PowerShell, Fish, Git Bash, WSL, etc.—and detects available profiles automatically, making it simple to switch contexts via the dropdown menu or the
Terminal: Select Default Profile command.Beyond basic command execution, VS Code's shell integration also contains clickable file links, working directory awareness, and error-detection markers in the scrollbar. These enhancements simplify tracing errors and navigating code paths by allowing direct jumps to source files, preserving the current working directory context, and highlighting problems inline within the terminal's scroll bar.
Extensibility and customization
Visual Studio Code can be extended via extensions. Users may install extensions from the VS Code Marketplace to add language support, editor, themes, debuggers, and additional utilities. A notable feature is the ability to create extensions that add support for new languages, themes, debuggers, time travel debuggers, perform static code analysis, and add code linters using the Language Server Protocol.Remote development and web-based access
VS Code supports remote development through extensions such as Remote–SSH, Remote–Containers, and Remote–WSL. These tools enable users to connect to and develop within remote environments, including servers and containers.Visual Studio Code for the Web allows users to edit files directly in a web browser without the need to install the desktop application. This version supports basic editing tasks and integration with remote repositories.
Insiders
VS Code Insiders is a nightly build version of this code editor, providing users with the opportunity to experience new features, bug fixes, and improvements ahead of their official release. It is compiled every night based on the latest changes from the development team, allowing users to test and provide feedback before these updates are officially released in the stable version.This version is completely independent of the standard version, meaning users can install and run both simultaneously without any interference between their settings, extensions, or themes. This design enables developers to explore and experiment with the latest features of the code editor without affecting their primary development environment.