Visual Studio/Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a distant derivative of Visual Studio, but there are major differences which one should be aware of. Here we present a brief guide to the usage of this code editor.

Differences

1. VS Code is a code editor. You'd most likely use it to maintain code rather than debug it. However, as you'll see below, it is often possible to enable debugging.
2. It is modular. The core of VS Code is based on the Electron framework, and extensions are added it to add more features. This is the reason Java debugging is possible on VS Code; this is not possible in any version of Visual Studio.
3. Most of VS Code is open-source and released under the MIT license. Visual Studio is fully proprietary.
4. VS Code is cross-platform and available for Mac and Linux.

Both software follow different update schedules.

Installation

VS Code can be installed from [https://code.visualstudio.com/].

Main page

When VS Code is started, you'll be given an option to install additional support for popular languages. It is suggested that you do so for those which you mostly program in.

Extensions

The bane of VS Code is extensions, more so than Visual Studio. One uses it to install practically any additional support on top of VS Code's barebones editor.
On the left bar, click Extensions. This gives you a bar with installed and recommended extensions (see right side).
To add a new extension, search for it. Then a list of possible extensions matching your search will come up. Click Install for the one(s) you need. VS Code will ask to restart itself when the installation is complete; this is necessary for the extension to be activated.