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Visual Studio Code vs Xamarin: What are the differences?
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) and Xamarin are two popular tools used in different aspects of software development. Here are the key differences between Visual Studio Code and Xamarin:
Purpose and Scope: Visual Studio Code is a lightweight source code editor that supports multiple programming languages and is primarily used for writing, editing, and debugging code. On the other hand, Xamarin is a framework for building cross-platform mobile applications using C# and .NET. It allows developers to write code that can be used across different mobile platforms, such as iOS, Android, and Windows, while still providing access to platform-specific APIs and features.
Development Environment: Visual Studio Code provides a flexible and customizable development environment suitable for a wide range of projects. It allows developers to add extensions for specific languages, frameworks, and tools. VS Code is often preferred for web development, scripting, and general-purpose coding. In contrast, Xamarin requires a more specialized development environment. It is typically used with Visual Studio, a full-featured integrated development environment (IDE), which provides comprehensive tools and features specific to Xamarin development.
Target Platforms: Visual Studio Code is a flexible editor that can be used to create applications for web, desktop, and cloud platforms. It offers support for multiple programming languages and frameworks, making it suitable for various project types. On the other hand, Xamarin is primarily focused on mobile application development. It enables developers to create native or cross-platform mobile apps that can run on iOS and Android devices, leveraging a shared codebase for efficient development.
Language and Technology Stack: Visual Studio Code supports multiple programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, and more. It provides excellent support for web technologies and offers extensive tooling and debugging capabilities for web development. In contrast, Xamarin uses C# and .NET as the primary programming language and technology stack. It provides a rich set of libraries and frameworks specifically tailored for mobile app development.
Community: Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a widely adopted, user-friendly editor with strong community support. It offers a vast ecosystem of extensions and resources. Xamarin requires familiarity with C# or .NET and provides dedicated documentation, forums, and tutorials for mobile app development.
In summary, Visual Studio Code is a versatile code editor suitable for various projects and programming languages, while Xamarin is a framework specialized in cross-platform mobile app development using C# and .NET.
Visual Studio Code became famous over the past 3+ years I believe. The clean UI, easy to use UX and the plethora of integrations made it a very easy decision for us. Our gripe with Sublime was probably only the UX side. VSCode has not failed us till now, and still is able to support our development env without any significant effort.
Goland being paid, as well as built only for Go seemed like a significant limitation to not consider it.
I decided to choose VSCode over Sublime text for my Systems Programming class in C. What I love about VSCode is its awesome ability to add extensions. Intellisense is a beautiful debugger, and Remote SSH allows me to login and make real-time changes in VSCode to files on my university server. This is an awesome alternative to going back and forth on pushing/pulling code and logging into servers in the terminal. Great choice for anyone interested in C programming!
Pros of Visual Studio Code
- Powerful multilanguage IDE340
- Fast308
- Front-end develop out of the box193
- Support TypeScript IntelliSense158
- Very basic but free142
- Git integration126
- Intellisense106
- Faster than Atom78
- Better ui, easy plugins, and nice git integration53
- Great Refactoring Tools45
- Good Plugins44
- Terminal42
- Superb markdown support38
- Open Source36
- Extensions35
- Awesome UI26
- Large & up-to-date extension community26
- Powerful and fast24
- Portable22
- Best editor18
- Best code editor18
- Easy to get started with17
- Lots of extensions15
- Good for begginers15
- Crossplatform15
- Built on Electron15
- Open, cross-platform, fast, monthly updates14
- Extensions for everything14
- All Languages Support14
- Easy to use and learn13
- Extensible12
- "fast, stable & easy to use"12
- Ui design is great11
- Useful for begginer11
- Totally customizable11
- Git out of the box11
- Faster edit for slow computer11
- SSH support10
- Great community10
- Fast Startup10
- Great language support9
- It has terminal and there are lots of shortcuts in it9
- Works With Almost EveryThing You Need9
- Powerful Debugger9
- Can compile and run .py files8
- Python extension is fast8
- Great document formater7
- Features rich7
- He is not Michael6
- Awesome multi cursor support6
- She is not Rachel6
- Extension Echosystem6
- VSCode.pro Course makes it easy to learn5
- SFTP Workspace5
- Very proffesional5
- Language server client5
- Easy azure5
- Has better support and more extentions for debugging4
- Supports lots of operating systems4
- Virtualenv integration4
- Excellent as git difftool and mergetool4
- Emmet preinstalled3
- More tools to integrate with vs3
- Has more than enough languages for any developer3
- Better autocompletes than Atom3
- 'batteries included'3
- Microsoft2
- Light2
- Big extension marketplace2
- CMake support with autocomplete2
- Fast and ruby is built right in2
- VS Code Server: Browser version of VS Code2
- Customizable2
Pros of Xamarin
- Power of c# on mobile devices121
- Native performance81
- Native apps with native ui controls79
- No javascript - truely compiled code73
- Sharing more than 90% of code over all platforms67
- Ability to leverage visual studio45
- Mvvm pattern44
- Many great c# libraries44
- Amazing support36
- Powerful platform for .net developers34
- GUI Native look and Feel19
- Nuget package manager16
- Free12
- Backed by Microsoft9
- Enables code reuse on server9
- Faster Development8
- Use of third-party .NET libraries7
- It's free since Apr 20167
- Best performance than other cross-platform7
- Easy Debug and Trace7
- Open Source7
- Mac IDE (Xamarin Studio)6
- Xamarin.forms is the best, it's amazing6
- That just work for every scenario5
- C# mult paradigm language5
- Power of C#, no javascript, visual studio5
- Great docs4
- Compatible to develop Hybrid apps4
- Microsoft stack4
- Microsoft backed4
- Well Designed3
- Small learning curve for Mobile developers3
- Ionic2
- Ability to leverage legacy C and C++2
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Cons of Visual Studio Code
- Slow startup46
- Resource hog at times29
- Poor refactoring20
- Poor UI Designer13
- Weak Ui design tools11
- Poor autocomplete10
- Super Slow8
- Huge cpu usage with few installed extension8
- Microsoft sends telemetry data8
- Poor in PHP7
- It's MicroSoft6
- Poor in Python3
- No Built in Browser Preview3
- No color Intergrator3
- Very basic for java development and buggy at times3
- No built in live Preview3
- Electron3
- Bad Plugin Architecture2
- Powered by Electron2
- Terminal does not identify path vars sometimes1
- Slow C++ Language Server1
Cons of Xamarin
- Build times9
- Visual Studio5
- Price4
- Complexity3
- Scalability3
- Nuget2
- Maturity2
- Build Tools2
- Support2
- Maturidade0
- Performance0
