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VS Code VS Colaboratory

Compare VS Code VS Colaboratory and see what are their differences

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  3. » Reviews
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VS Code logo VS Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

Colaboratory logo Colaboratory

Free Jupyter notebook environment in the cloud.
  • VS Code Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-09
  • Colaboratory Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-01

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.

Colaboratory features and specs

  • Free Access
    Colaboratory is freely available to anyone with a Google account, making it accessible for students, researchers, and developers without cost barriers.
  • Cloud-based
    Colab operates in the cloud, eliminating the need for local computational resources and allowing access from any device with internet connectivity.
  • GPU and TPU Support
    Colab provides free access to GPUs and TPUs, which can significantly speed up machine learning tasks and deep learning experiments.
  • Integration with Google Drive
    Easy integration with Google Drive allows for convenient storage and retrieval of data, notebooks, and other resources.
  • Collaborative Editing
    Multiple users can collaborate on a notebook in real-time, making it a valuable tool for team projects and pair programming.
  • Pre-configured Environment
    Colab comes pre-installed with a wide array of popular machine learning libraries and dependencies, reducing setup time and effort.

Possible disadvantages of Colaboratory

  • Session Time Limits
    Colab has time limits for sessions, meaning your environment can be reset if left idle for too long or if the maximum session duration is reached.
  • Resource Limits
    There are limitations on the computational resources and memory available, which can be restrictive for very large and complex tasks.
  • Dependency Management
    While many libraries are pre-installed, managing and updating dependencies can sometimes be problematic, leading to conflicts or version issues.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Since your code and data are stored on Google’s servers, there can be privacy and security concerns related to sensitive information.
  • Network Dependency
    Being a cloud-based service, Colaboratory requires a constant internet connection, which may not be feasible in all scenarios or locations.
  • Limited Customization
    Customization of the environment is limited compared to a local setup where you have full control over system configurations and installed software.

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 Colaboratory

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Colaboratory is highly praised for its convenience, accessibility, and powerful features which make it an excellent choice for many users, especially those involved in data science, machine learning, and education.

Why this product is good

  • Google Colab (Colaboratory) is a powerful platform for running Jupyter notebooks in the cloud. It offers seamless integration with Google Drive, allowing for easy sharing and collaboration. It also provides access to free resources, including GPUs and TPUs, which is beneficial for tasks requiring substantial computational power such as training machine learning models. The simplicity of running Python code without setup and the support for common libraries make it accessible and easy to use.

Recommended for

  • Data scientists needing scalable resources
  • Researchers and educators looking for collaborative tools
  • Students learning Python and data analysis
  • Anyone wanting to leverage GPU/TPU without additional costs

VS Code videos

+ Add

My New Favorite Text Editor - Visual Studio Code

More videos:

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

Colaboratory videos

+ Add

Google Colaboratory review: the best tool for Python programming and data analysis

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VS Code and Colaboratory)

VS Code

Colaboratory

Text Editors
98 98%
Text Editors
2% 2
Development
0 0%
Development
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
IDE
0% 0
Online Learning
0 0%
Online Learning
100% 100

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 Colaboratory

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

Colaboratory Reviews

Jupyter Notebook & 10 Alternatives: Data Notebook Review [2023]
Google Colaboratory (known as Colab) is a browser-based notebook created by the Google team. The environment is based on the Jupyter Notebook environment, so it will be recognizable to those of you who are already familiar with Jupyter.
Source: lakefs.io
12 Best Jupyter Notebook Alternatives [2023] – Features, pros & cons, pricing
Microsoft Azure Notebooks is a cloud-based platform for data science projects and machine learning that is similar to Google Colab and Kaggle Notebooks. It provides access to powerful hardware resources, including GPUs and TPUs, for running machine learning and deep learning models, as well as a number of other useful features, such as integration with Microsoft Azure...
Source: noteable.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VS Code should be more popular than Colaboratory. 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 / 5 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 / 6 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 / 24 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 / 25 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 / about 1 month ago
View more

Colaboratory mentions (225)

  • What Are the Best Code Editors for Collaborative Coding?
    Google Colaboratory is a Jupyter notebook environment specifically built for machine learning and data science applications in Python. It supports collaboration in a unique way:. - Source: dev.to / 24 days ago
  • Introduction to TensorFlow with real code examples
    If you don't want to set up TensorFlow locally, you can use Google Colab, which comes with a GPU by default. You can access it via this link. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • The 3 Best Python Frameworks To Build UIs for AI Apps
    Showcase and share: Easily embed UIs in Jupyter Notebook, Google Colab or share them on Hugging Face using a public link. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Build a RAG-Powered Research Paper Assistant
    Google Colab Documentation Beginner-friendly documentation to get started with Google Colab: Https://colab.research.google.com/. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • PyTorch Fundamentals: A Beginner-Friendly Guide
    If you don't want to install PyTorch locally, you can use Google Colab, which provides a free cloud-based environment with PyTorch pre-installed. This allows you to run PyTorch code without any setup on your local machine. Simply go to Google Colab and create a new notebook. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VS Code and Colaboratory, 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.

Jupyter - Project Jupyter exists to develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages. Ready to get started? Try it in your browser Install the Notebook.

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

Kaggle - Kaggle offers innovative business results and solutions to companies.

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

Teammately.ai - Teammately is The AI AI-Engineer - the AI Agent for AI Engineers that autonomously builds AI Products, Models and Agents based on LLM, prompt, RAG and ML.

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