I write code almost every day. When I write .NET / C# code, I use both the Visual Studio program as well as the Visual Studio Code program. My young colleagues tend to prefer Visual Studio Code (first general usage in about 2016) while my older, more experienced colleagues tend to prefer Visual Studio (first general usage for .NET about 2000). When I write my own code, I usually use Visual Studio, but when I’m doing code reviews of other guys work, I’m usually using Visual Studio Code.

I recently noticed that the Internet is filled with semi-myths about the differences between the two programs. Let me cut to the chase and say that in my opinion, from a practical, usage point of view, for the vast majority of standard programming scenarios, there is no significant difference between the two programs. Both programs are equally easy/difficult to use and whichever program you use more often will be the easier program to use.

Many Internet sources state, without solid references, that Visual Studio Code is far more popular than Visual Studio. In spite of the lack of solid supporting data, I believe this is probably true, and therefore it’s a good reason for beginners to start with and use Visual Studio Code rather than Visual Studio.

The images below show an example of Visual Studio (top) and Visual Studio Code (bottom) running the same program. The main difference, which isn’t important, is that Visual Studio, on top, is executing the program through its integrated debugger via hitting F5, while in Visual Studio Code, on bottom, I’m running the program executable directly from the command line after it was built using Ctrl-Shift-B. (For Visual Studio Code, on the bottom, I used the “Visual Studio color theme” and I moved the Explorer bar from its default left position to the right. This makes the two programs look more similar than they would with a standard Visual Studio Code dark color theme and the Explorer bar on the default left side.)

Top: Visual Studio. Bottom: Visual Studio Code.

Most Internet sources state the opinion that Visual Studio is preferable for very large, very complex projects. Based on my experience, this is true. Visual Studio can deal with Solutions that have many Projects (possibly dozens) that have many files (possibly hundreds) that have many dependencies (possibly thousands). For example, the Windows operating system is built using Visual Studio. In fact, use by the Windows team was an early motivating factor for the creation and development of Visual Studio. (Years ago, during my days at Microsoft, I worked on a project with the Windows team in Redmond Buildings 26, 27, 28).

My point is that for the majority of software development scenarios, either Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code can be used and there’s no significant advantage to either tool. Whatever most of your colleagues use, is the program you should use to make communication and cooperation easier.

I’m no chemist, but I’m pretty sure there were no major technical differences between laundry detergents in the 1950s. Therefore, advertising must have been extremely important. These three old magazine advertisements are interesting to me. In addition to being very happy, all three women have very short hair (I guess that was the leading style of the time), and dresses with pronounced collars. Tide and Oxydol detergents are still sold today, but Duz was discontinued in 1998.