Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade VS Productivity Power Tools

Compare Microsoft MakeCode Arcade VS Productivity Power Tools and see what are their differences

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade logo Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

Drag n drop code to make and play games online and on various hardware

Productivity Power Tools logo Productivity Power Tools

Extension for Visual Studio - A set of extensions to Visual Studio 2012 Professional (and above) which improves developer productivity.
Not present
  • Productivity Power Tools Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Productivity Power Tools features and specs

  • Enhanced Features
    Productivity Power Tools provide numerous enhancements to the existing Visual Studio features, making navigation and coding more efficient.
  • Customization Options
    Users can customize the development environment to better suit their workflow, which can lead to increased productivity.
  • Improved Code Navigation
    The tools include enhanced navigation options, such as quick tabs and better search capabilities, allowing developers to find code faster.
  • Refactoring and Formatting
    The suite includes tools that assist with code refactoring and formatting, which can help maintain consistent code quality across projects.
  • Debugging Aids
    Debugging tools are improved, offering more intuitive ways to troubleshoot and resolve bugs in the code.

Possible disadvantages of Productivity Power Tools

  • Compatibility Issues
    Some users have reported compatibility issues with certain versions of Visual Studio or specific extensions.
  • Resource Intensive
    The additional features may consume extra system resources, potentially affecting the performance of the IDE on lower-end hardware.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The variety of tools and options may overwhelm new users, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Potential for Dependency
    Reliance on these tools might limit a developer's ability to work efficiently in environments where they are not available.
  • Update and Maintenance
    Regular updates and maintenance are required to ensure compatibility with the latest versions of Visual Studio, which can be time-consuming.

Analysis of Productivity Power Tools

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Productivity Power Tools is generally considered a good set of extensions for Visual Studio users. It enhances the development environment with features that many users find useful in improving their efficiency and productivity during coding sessions. The tools are well-integrated, easy to use, and regularly updated to stay compatible with newer versions of Visual Studio.

Why this product is good

  • Productivity Power Tools is a collection of extensions for Visual Studio that aims to improve and streamline the developer experience. It includes features such as enhanced code navigation, better tab management, and customizable editor enhancements. These tools are designed to make coding more efficient and reduce the cognitive load on developers by automating repetitive tasks and improving the overall workflow.

Recommended for

    Productivity Power Tools is recommended for software developers and engineers who use Visual Studio as their primary Integrated Development Environment (IDE). It is particularly beneficial for those looking to enhance their coding efficiency, improve navigation within the IDE, and customize their development environment to better suit their personal workflow preferences.

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade videos

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Beginners Review: Microsoft MakeCode Arcade || Lilithium

Productivity Power Tools videos

Productivity Power Toolsย 2017

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft MakeCode Arcade and Productivity Power Tools)
Game Development
100 100%
0% 0
Regular Expressions
0 0%
100% 100
Kids Education
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Microsoft MakeCode Arcade and Productivity Power Tools. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Productivity Power Tools seems to be a lot more popular than Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. While we know about 520 links to Productivity Power Tools, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade mentions (4)

  • Isometric Projection in Game Development
    Alternatively, get her an emulator of an old 8 or 16 bit system, I started coding at the age of 10 in these systems, with books that were oriented for kids. https://www.atariarchives.org/ http://redparsley.blogspot.com/2016/08/input-magazine-retrospective.html https://archive.org/details/input-hi-01 Or if you prefer something more up to date, https://arcade.makecode.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Yo wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
    Https://arcade.makecode.com/ Is great fun to use and made for kids. The forum (forum.makecode.com) is well moderated and safe too. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Copying Angry Birds with nothing but AI
    I'm not sure how this reduces the barrier to game developement. There are already lots of free assets and game engines designed for making arcade games that are a lot easier then say Unity or Unreal. Like https://arcade.makecode.com/ or https://microstudio.dev/ or https://scratch.mit.edu/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?
    For the game angle https://arcade.makecode.com may be more of a fit. You can even build a cabinet. Disclaimer: worked on both. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago

Productivity Power Tools mentions (520)

  • Show HN: A VS Code Extension for Genesis DB โ€“ The event sourcing database
    Https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=patriceckhart.genesisdb-vscode I'd love to hear what you think:. - Source: Hacker News / about 10 hours ago
  • Cursor 1.7
    Sounds like you're still using the terminal. I'm talking about https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=anthropic.claude-code. - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
  • Basic Dialects, IDEs, and Tutorials
    One project which is trying very hard is SmallVisualBasic: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ModernVBNET.sVBInstaller. - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
  • How to Make Sense of Any Mess
    I just use VSCode with a markdown file and the mermaid preview extension. Itโ€™s all local. https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vstirbu.vscode-mermaid-preview. - Source: Hacker News / 12 days ago
  • Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2025)?
    Playing around with code visualization. Built a vscode extension to generate architecture diagrams for terraform - https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=infragram.infragram Now exploring on extending this to general programming languages. Software is getting increasingly complex, but I don't think we have figured out many ways of navigating large codebases. Would love to hear about your favourite... - Source: Hacker News / 8 days ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft MakeCode Arcade and Productivity Power Tools, you can also consider the following products

Scratch - Scratch is the programming language & online community where young people create stories, games, & animations.

rubular - A ruby based regular expression editor

Snap - Snap (formerly BYOB) is a visual, drag-and-drop programming language.

RegExr - RegExr.com is an online tool to learn, build, and test Regular Expressions.

microStudio - microStudio is an all-in-one online game engine that enables you to create games, develop programming skills, have fun playing what you have created, share with others, and prototype.

RegexPlanet Ruby - RegexPlanet offers a free-to-use Regular Expression Test Page to help you check RegEx in Ruby free-of-cost.