this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2024
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VSCode is absolutely an IDE. It is full of IDE features. The idea that it isn't an IDE is one of those weird memes that won't die, like people saying "an historic occasion".
Vscode is an IDE, but only after I spent 15 minutes finding and selecting the appropriate java extensions and ensuring that my Linux system had Java installed.
But what was a 15 minute process to me, could easily be a 2 hour struggle to someone who is setting up a development environment for the first time and "just wants autocomplete and debugging".
Yes in some ways it is not a beginner friendly IDE. I would also point to
launch.jsonas being a right arse.Still an IDE though.
Vscode is a text editor, sorry…“code editor”. Like you so graciously called out in a later comment, MS even clarified that it’s not an IDE. If VSCode is an IDE then so is VIM or Sublime Text or Notepad++, which of course is nonsense. IDE doesn’t just mean integrated development environment, it means it was meant to be used that way. Just because I turned my lawnmower into something that looks like an F1 race car doesn’t mean it’s an F1 race car.
You’re clearly aware of all of the arguments why VS code isn’t an IDE so it’s pointless to have this argument, but you seem to think that just because something looks like an IDE means it is, which is just categorically false.
Microsoft doesn't get to define what an IDE is. Also... I actually reread what they said and the implicitly say it is an IDE (and a "code editor" which is a fairly meaningless term):
"to fuller featured IDEs", not "to IDEs".
They didn’t have that originally, they added it because of people like you that are arguing that it’s an IDE when it clearly isn’t.
Code editor makes perfect sense. It’s a text editor with code highlighting, fast search, and an understanding of different languages, oftentimes with command windows to make working with text easier. Clearly distinct from something like notepad, that only has the ability to edit text and nothing else.
They added it within 4 months of launch.
They added text saying it is an IDE because they didn't want people to think it is an IDE? I think you've misunderstood.
And integrated debugging, testing, refactoring, ... Why exactly do you think it is not an IDE?
They didn’t add text saying it’s an IDE. It clearly says it’s a code editor. They add a snippet about comparing it to actual IDEs to placate people like you, and no it wasn’t within 4 months of launch, it was years.
lol it doesn’t have testing or debugging by default! You literally have to install extensions to do those things! It has panels where those things go, but they don’t do anything without an extension. Try running a js test from the gutter on a clean install. You literally can’t.
They're saying it's a code editor and an IDE.
So the fact that they've designed it with an extensible architecture somehow makes it not an IDE? That doesn't make any sense at all.
I guess Eclipse isn't an IDE either then?
Platformio is an IDE based on VSCode.
VSCode CAN be an IDE.
But it isn't natively an IDE
I would say that for something to be an IDE it has to be meant to be an IDE. Clearly Microsoft didn’t intend for it to be an IDE or they would have called it that. Just because you can build something that looks and performs like an F1 race car in your garage out of an old lawnmower or ford Taurus or whatever doesn’t make it an F1 car. Unless it’s racing at Monaco in an F1 race, it ain’t an F1 car. Same thing with VS Code. It’s a code editor, like Sublime or vim.
Honestly interested what makes something not an IDE but can be one? The fact that it requires plugins to turn it into an IDE?
Does that mean Eclipse is not an IDE either, since it requires either JDT or CDT to be anywhere near useful?
I'm interested in that too, where's the line and how much does it matter?
There isn't a hard line. IDE means Integrated Development Environment. It just means that tools that - in the stone ages - were used separately are integrated into your editor. Common tools that IDEs integrate that would be separate tools with a text editor like Notepad:
VSCode has all of those. The fact that it implements them in a pluggable way doesn't mean it doesn't.
Even though "is it an IDE" is a blurry line, VSCode is very clearly far across that line.
The only reasons people say it isn't are a) as a put-down - it's not a real IDE like - or b) because Microsoft put some nonsense about it not being an IDE on their website in order to try and explain why they make two IDEs (VSCode and VS).
So Kate is one too then, right? it has all of that and was designed for it to be used as an IDE.
Yes I'd say so.
So I guess vim is also an IDE then? My setup can do all of that.
I don't really know anything about Vim so I'd have to take your word for it.
To me, something like visual studio is an ide.
Out of the box it can run and debug c# programs. I can step through line by line, I can add breakpoints, I can watch variables.
It is a great experience for developing c#.
To get vscode to do that requires a lot of configuration.
Sometimes all that config is done by only 1 plugin.
The fact that there are really well made plugins for so many different languages and frameworks is vscodes power. I don't just get a js/ts/node/deno ide, but it can be super tailored to Vue/react/svelte/quasar/nuxt/next/whatever.
All while in a familiar editor, and without having to install another program.
That's what I mean by vscode not being an IDE.
Vscode has the ability to be an IDE, but it's 3rd parties that actually do the work to achieve this.