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VS Code VS Android Studio

Compare VS Code VS Android Studio and see what are their differences

VS Code logo VS Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

Android Studio logo Android Studio

Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA
  • VS Code Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-09
  • Android Studio Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

VS Code features and specs

  • Cross-platform
    VS Code works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing a consistent development experience across different operating systems.
  • Extensibility
    A vast library of extensions allows users to add functionalities like debuggers, linters, and themes, making it highly customizable.
  • Integrated Git
    Built-in Git integration makes it easy to manage version control tasks directly within the editor.
  • Performance
    Lightweight compared to full-fledged IDEs, ensuring good performance even on systems with limited resources.
  • IntelliSense
    Advanced code completion and refactoring tools help improve coding efficiency and reduce errors.
  • Community Support
    A strong and active community provides extensive support, tutorials, and third-party extensions.
  • Debugging
    Robust debugging tools for various languages and frameworks are available out of the box.
  • Free and Open-Source
    VS Code is completely free to use and open-source, which is beneficial for both individual developers and organizations.

Possible disadvantages of VS Code

  • Limited IDE Features
    While extensible, it may lack some advanced features found in dedicated IDEs out of the box.
  • Extension Management
    Managing and configuring a large number of extensions can become cumbersome and sometimes lead to performance issues.
  • Learning Curve
    Although user-friendly, it has a steeper learning curve for beginners due to its numerous features and customization options.
  • Memory Usage
    Despite being lightweight, it can consume a significant amount of memory when multiple extensions are installed.
  • Update Frequency
    Frequent updates may sometimes introduce bugs or require users to adapt to new changes quickly.
  • Internet Dependency
    Some features and extensions may require an internet connection to function optimally.
  • Telemetry
    By default, VS Code collects usage data, which might be a concern for users sensitive about data privacy. However, this can be disabled.

Android Studio features and specs

  • Comprehensive Development Environment
    Android Studio offers a complete suite of tools for developing Android apps, including a code editor, debugger, and emulators, which help streamline the development process.
  • Rich Features
    Features like code completion, syntax highlighting, and refactoring tools make writing and maintaining code easier and more efficient.
  • Integrated Emulator
    The built-in emulator allows developers to test their applications on various device configurations without needing physical devices.
  • Official Support
    Being the official IDE from Google, Android Studio has strong community and official support, ensuring timely updates and bug fixes.
  • Cross-Platform Development
    Supports cross-platform development with plugins like Flutter, allowing for the creation of apps on both Android and iOS.
  • Strong Version Control Integration
    Supports integrated version control systems like Git, making it easier to collaborate and manage source code.

Possible disadvantages of Android Studio

  • Heavy Resource Usage
    Android Studio can be resource-intensive, requiring a significant amount of RAM and CPU, which can slow down less powerful machines.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The range of features and complexity of the IDE can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring time to learn and master.
  • Startup Time
    Android Studio has a relatively slow startup time compared to other lightweight IDEs, affecting productivity for quick tasks.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    Users sometimes experience crashes or performance issues, especially when using multiple plugins or working on large projects.
  • Large Disk Space Requirement
    The IDE itself and its associated components (like SDKs, emulators) require a considerable amount of disk space.
  • Frequent Updates
    While updates can bring new features and bug fixes, they can also disrupt workflows and introduce new issues if not managed properly.

Analysis of VS Code

Overall verdict

  • Yes, VS Code is generally considered a good choice for developers due to its flexibility, efficiency, and strong community support. It is lightweight, fast, and user-friendly, catering to both novice and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • VS Code, developed by Microsoft, is a widely popular and versatile code editor. It offers a robust extension ecosystem, which allows developers to customize their workflow and coding environment extensively. Additionally, VS Code supports numerous programming languages right out of the box and provides features like IntelliSense, debugging, Git integration, and a built-in terminal, making it a powerful tool for developers.

Recommended for

  • Web developers looking for a comprehensive yet lightweight coding environment.
  • Software developers who need an editor with extensive language support and customization options.
  • Beginner programmers who would benefit from a feature-rich editor that can grow with their skills.
  • Developers interested in an open-source tool with continuous updates and community-driven enhancements.

Analysis of Android Studio

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Android Studio is considered a robust and comprehensive tool for Android app development. Its depth of features and strong support network make it a reliable choice for both beginners and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • Android Studio is the official integrated development environment (IDE) for Android app development, providing extensive tools and features specifically tailored for Android development. It offers advanced code editing, debugging, performance tooling, a flexible build system, and an instant app run feature. Its seamless integration with other Google services, strong community support, and frequent updates make it a powerful choice for developers.

Recommended for

    Android Studio is recommended for anyone developing Android applications, including individual developers, development teams, students, and educators. It is also well-suited for those who want to leverage Google's developer tools and services in their Android projects.

VS Code videos

My New Favorite Text Editor - Visual Studio Code

More videos:

  • Review - 7 reasons why I switched to Visual Studio Code from Sublime Text

Android Studio videos

Introduction to Android Studio

More videos:

  • Review - Xamarin (Visual Studio) vs Android Studio and Kotlin

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VS Code and Android Studio)
Text Editors
90 90%
10% 10
IDE
78 78%
22% 22
Developer Tools
71 71%
29% 29
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare VS Code and Android Studio

VS Code Reviews

  1. dksinden
    · Working at SpeechKit ·

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Visual Studio Code, commonly known as VS Code, is a powerful and extensible code editor developed by Microsoft. With its rich ecosystem of extensions and features like IntelliSense, debugging, and Git integration, VS Code enhances your coding productivity.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
Finally, the Visual Studio Code website has numerous tabs for you to learn about the software. The documentation page walks you through steps like the setup and working with different languages. You’re also able to check out some tips and tricks and learn all of the Visual Studio Code keyboard shortcuts. Along with a blog, updates page, extensions library and API...
Source: kinsta.com
Jupyter Notebook & 10 Alternatives: Data Notebook Review [2023]
Previously, VS Code was more suited to developers or engineers due to its lack of data analysis capabilities, but since 2020, the VS Code team has collaborated with the Jupyter team to create an integrated notebook within VS Code. The end result is a fantastic IDE workbook for data analysis.
Source: lakefs.io
The Best IDEs for Java Development: A Comparative Analysis
Overview: Although not a traditional IDE, VS Code has gained popularity as a lightweight code editor.
Source: dev.to
20 Best Diff Tools to Compare File Contents on Linux
Visual studio code is a code editor made by Microsoft. It supports several development operations like debugging, task running, and version control. It works on Linux, macOS and Windows operating systems.
Source: linuxopsys.com

Android Studio Reviews

Explore 9 Top Eclipse Alternatives for 2024
Meet Android Studio, the official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for masterful Android app development. Based on the IntelliJ IDEA, this prime application development platform comes packed with a versatile Gradle-based build system, lightning-fast emulator, and vast device compatibility.
Source: aircada.com
Best Emulator for Low End PC
Android Studio is the best emulator for developing Android apps like a pro. Even if you’re a complete beginner, they offer training courses that make the whole process super easy. You can test your Android app on responsive layouts and use Build Analyzer to fix any performance issues within your app. Android Studio’s unique features include Wear Devices: Pair multiple watch...
Source: cloudzy.com
Top 10 Android Studio Alternatives For App Development
Android Studio is an IDE that is Android Studio which is an environment for integrated development of the software. But sometimes the requirement is unique which takes either the compiled methods to use Android studio which not only consumes time but is hard to understand as well. So developers look for some alternative to Android Studio to create that specific feature.
16 Best Android Emulators For PCs In 2023
Android Studio has a built-in emulator but packs fewer features in comparison to tools like Genymotion. The emulator is unquestionably not for general usage and playing heavy games. Android Studio is tough to set up but simultaneously favorite of many developers.
Source: theqalead.com
THE BEST 34 APP DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IN 2022 LIST
Android Studio is the official IDE for Android app development, based on IntelliJ IDEA. On top of IntelliJ’s powerful code editor and developer tools, Android Studio offers even more features that enhance your productivity when building Android apps.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VS Code should be more popular than Android Studio. It has been mentiond 1148 times since March 2021. 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.

VS Code mentions (1148)

  • 7 Ways AI Code Review Can Save Hours of Developers' Effort
    Put simply, by automating routine checks, AI reviewers help engineers avoid tens of hours of minor fixes and rewrites. As per my experience, AI code review exemplify this shift: catching issues on the spot in VS Code, they keep developers focused on building features rather than waiting for post-hoc feedback. Against this backdrop, let’s explore the main advantages of AI-powered code review for enterprise teams. - Source: dev.to / 4 days ago
  • Build and Deploy a Real Time ML System
    VSCode to open the repository, or any other IDE that supports devcontainers. - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • What Are the Best Code Editors for Collaborative Coding?
    Visual Studio Code is a highly popular, lightweight, and versatile code editor. Its Live Share extension transforms it into a powerful collaborative tool. With Live Share, developers can co-edit and co-debug codes in real-time, making it easier to handle complex projects together. It offers:. - Source: dev.to / 22 days ago
  • Before the Code: Why I Chose Web Development and How I Got Started
    Built-in terminal (you’ll love this later) Download it here. - Source: dev.to / 24 days ago
  • #The Chronicles of Sam: 10,000 Hours to Say “Hi” Automatically 💬
    Somewhere between enabling CORS and accidentally enabling IAM authentication, Sam backed out slowly and did what all developers eventually do when faced with AWS UI: They closed the tab and opened [VSCode 🖥️].(https://code.visualstudio.com/). - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
View more

Android Studio mentions (171)

  • Microsoft Teams Video Calls to .NET MAUI: A Seamless Integration Guide for Android
    Don't forget to Download Android Studio and run a test project. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Android Studio Meerkat Update Boosts Gemini Integration & More
    The Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop (2024.3.2) introduces several developer productivity tools, including enhanced Gemini integration for crash analysis and unit testing. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • complete beginner-friendly step-by-step guide to installing and running a React Native
    1. Download from: https://developer.android.com/studio. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • A Practical guide to building cross-platform apps with Angular, Ionic, Capacitor, and Nx
    Download and install Android Studio to emulate or deploy your app on Android devices. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Top 10 Essential Tools for Android Development
    Android Studio is the official **Integrated Development Environment** (IDE) for Android app development. It has an easy-to-use interface, strong tools, and good support from Google. It’s ideal for building, testing, and debugging Android applications. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VS Code and Android Studio, you can also consider the following products

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

Xcode - Xcode is Apple’s powerful integrated development environment for creating great apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Xcode 4 includes the Xcode IDE, instruments, iOS Simulator, and the latest Mac OS X and iOS SDKs.

Vim - Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

Microsoft Visual Studio - Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft.

Notepad++ - A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.

IntelliJ IDEA - Capable and Ergonomic IDE for JVM