Microsoft Visio vs Visual Studio

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Microsoft Visio

135
153
+ 1
7
Visual Studio

47.4K
36.8K
+ 1
1.1K
Add tool

Microsoft Visio vs Visual Studio: What are the differences?

Microsoft Visio and Visual Studio are both popular tools in the Microsoft ecosystem, but they serve different purposes.

  1. Functionality: Microsoft Visio is primarily used for creating diagrams and visualizations, while Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for building software applications.

  2. Target Users: Visio is commonly used by business professionals, project managers, and analysts for designing process flows, organizational charts, and network diagrams. On the other hand, Visual Studio is designed for software developers and programmers who use it for coding, debugging, and testing applications.

  3. Features: Visio offers a wide range of pre-built templates and shapes that make it easy to create professional-looking diagrams. It also has collaboration features, allowing multiple users to work on a diagram simultaneously. Visual Studio, on the other hand, provides powerful code editing tools, integrated debugging, version control, and project management features.

  4. Integration: Visual Studio is tightly integrated with the Microsoft development ecosystem. It supports multiple programming languages and frameworks and can be used for developing applications for various platforms, including desktop, web, mobile, and cloud. Visio, on the other hand, can be integrated with other Microsoft products like PowerPoint and Word, allowing users to import or export diagrams into these applications.

  5. Development Workflow: Visual Studio provides a complete development environment with features like code intelligence, syntax highlighting, and code refactoring tools. It also supports built-in testing and profiling capabilities. Visio, on the other hand, focuses on the visual aspect of designing and doesn't offer the extensive development capabilities provided by Visual Studio.

  6. Learning Curve: Visual Studio is a powerful tool with many advanced features, making it more suitable for experienced developers. On the other hand, Visio is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to non-technical users, requiring less technical expertise to create diagrams and visualizations.

In summary, Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool primarily used by business professionals to create visualizations, while Visual Studio is an integrated development environment targeted towards software developers. The key differences include functionality, target users, features, integration, development workflow, and learning curve.

Advice on Microsoft Visio and Visual Studio

The problem I have is whether to choose Android Studio or Visual Studio? I have to develop a simple app for a school project that can work on both iPhone and Android.

The most important factors for me are Android and iOS compatibility. Although note that i would like to become a Software Engineer when i finish my course. (I'd like to work for Apple, just saying!)

After that id like easy integration for Google Ads and such if i do develop another app that people actually use to support development. (I'd also like to stick with one easy programming language that's compatible with a wide variety of platforms since i'm a beginner and have only ever used Pascal)

See more
Replies (1)
Recommends
on
FlutterFlutter

First of all - Android Studio and Visual Studio are IDE's. Tools to create code. What you are asking is programming framework. I assume that when you are talking about Android Studio you mean Native Android Development and by Visual Studio you mean Xamarin.

If you want to create crossplatform app then Native Android Development is NOT a way to go. Xamarin might work for you, BUT - you'd rather recommend you to go with Flutter. It's much more performant than Xamarin, programming model is friendlier for developer and technology seems just more refined. It's also officially supported by google, so no worries about support.

See more
Decisions about Microsoft Visio and Visual Studio
Julien DeFrance
Principal Software Engineer at Tophatter · | 1 upvote · 367.5K views

When starting my new role at #Stessa, I needed a solution to start diagramming some of my #Architecture so I'd be able to share my views on #SystemArchitecture with the rest of the team.

Visualization is key. Especially when working with complex/distributed systems. You want to make sure everybody's got the same understanding of your approach, so you can better communicate, and start delegating more.

In the past, I had worked with #VisualParadigm for #UML, in both desktop and #SaaS version of the product. Also worked with #LucidChart We also looked at potential alternatives such as Microsoft Visio for instance.

Ultimately, my recommendation was & we closed on Lucidchart, as it won on couple of key aspects : #Team #Collaboration, #Integrations with #AWS for instance, and certain specific visualizations we were looking for / others didn't have.

This isn't just for #Engineering. I've seen Lucidchart being used by #Product Teams, #Network #Engineers, #IT Departments, #DevOps, or non-Engineering related teams.

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Microsoft Visio
Pros of Visual Studio
  • 7
    Libraries allow the quick creation of diagrams
  • 305
    Intellisense, ui
  • 244
    Complete ide and debugger
  • 165
    Plug-ins
  • 104
    Integrated
  • 93
    Documentation
  • 37
    Fast
  • 35
    Node tools for visual studio (ntvs)
  • 33
    Free Community edition
  • 24
    Simple
  • 17
    Bug free
  • 8
    Made by Microsoft
  • 6
    Full free community version
  • 5
    JetBrains plugins (ReSharper etc.) work sufficiently OK
  • 3
    Productivity Power Tools
  • 2
    Vim mode
  • 2
    VIM integration
  • 1
    I develop UWP apps and Intellisense is super useful
  • 1
    Cross platform development
  • 1
    The Power and Easiness to Do anything in any.. language
  • 1
    Available for Mac and Windows

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Microsoft Visio
Cons of Visual Studio
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 15
      Bulky
    • 14
      Made by Microsoft
    • 6
      Sometimes you need to restart to finish an update
    • 3
      Too much size for disk
    • 3
      Only avalible on Windows

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    What is Microsoft Visio?

    Create flowcharts, diagrams, org charts, floor plans, engineering designs, and more, using modern shapes and templates with the familiar Office experience.

    What is Visual Studio?

    Visual Studio is a suite of component-based software development tools and other technologies for building powerful, high-performance applications.

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use Microsoft Visio?
    What companies use Visual Studio?
    See which teams inside your own company are using Microsoft Visio or Visual Studio.
    Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

    Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

    What tools integrate with Microsoft Visio?
    What tools integrate with Visual Studio?

    Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

    Blog Posts

    What are some alternatives to Microsoft Visio and Visual Studio?
    Adobe Illustrator
    The industry-standard vector graphics app lets you create logos, icons, sketches, typography, and complex illustrations for print, web, interactive, video, and mobile.
    OmniGraffle
    Creators of Mac, iPad, and iPhone productivity software. Proud to bring you OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle, and OmniPlan.
    Flow
    Flow is an online collaboration platform that makes it easy for people to create, organize, discuss, and accomplish tasks with anyone, anytime, anywhere. By merging a sleek, intuitive interface with powerful functionality, we're out to revolutionize the way the world's productive teams get things done.
    Lucidchart
    Solution for visual communication. Create online flowcharts, diagrams, UML sketches, and ER models.
    JavaScript
    JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.
    See all alternatives