What it is
Visual Studio Code is a code editor from Microsoft. It has syntax highlighting, code completion and debugging for most languages, a built-in terminal and Git support, and a marketplace of extensions that add languages, themes, linters and tools.
It sits between a plain text editor and a full IDE: light enough to open a single file, capable enough for large projects.
Why it’s here
- The extension marketplace. Almost every language, framework and service has a VS Code extension.
- Familiar. Many developers already know it, and many tutorials assume it.
- Microsoft’s own build. Some extensions, such as Live Share and the remote development tools, work only in Microsoft’s release.
On CoreDesktop
VS Code is installed from Flathub. Open it from the app menu. It runs in Flatpak’s sandbox, so its built-in terminal and extensions don’t see every tool installed on the system. If you’d prefer the same editor without Microsoft’s telemetry and licensing, CoreDesktop also installs VSCodium.
update keeps VS Code current with the rest of the Flatpaks.