Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a code editor widely used by software developers. It's open source and free to use, and it's available on all three major operating systems (Windows, macOS, and Linux). It also has variants available in the web browser, however this will not be covered in this guide due to it having a more limited feature set.
Alternatives
There are many IDEs available as alternatives. Below are the most popular:
| Editor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WebStorm | Paid | JetBrains has many IDEs built for specific programming languages. If you check out their website, you can probably find one you could use. |
| Zed | Free1 | A more modern code editor, with emphasis on AI-powered features and a fast, lightweight core. |
| Neovim | Free | A code editor with a focus on productivity, extensibility, and compatibility. Warning: Neovim has a very, very steep learning curve. |
1 Zed is free and open source, however some AI-related features cost a monthly fee.
Installation
Installation instructions for VSCode can be found on the VSCode website.
Alternatively, you can see a beginner-friendly setup procedure here.