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VS Code VS IrfanView

Compare VS Code VS IrfanView and see what are their differences

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VS Code logo VS Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

IrfanView logo IrfanView

IrfanView ... one of the most popular viewers worldwide.
  • VS Code Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-09
  • IrfanView Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-23

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.

IrfanView features and specs

  • Lightweight
    IrfanView is known for its small size and low resource usage, making it fast and efficient even on older systems.
  • Wide Format Support
    Supports a vast array of image formats, including BMP, DIB, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, and many more, along with some multimedia formats.
  • Batch Processing
    Includes powerful batch processing capabilities for converting and processing multiple images at once.
  • Plugins
    Supports a variety of plugins for extended functionality, allowing users to add features such as support for additional file formats and enhanced editing tools.
  • User-Friendly
    Offers an intuitive and straightforward interface that is easy to navigate for both beginners and advanced users.
  • Free for Personal Use
    IrfanView is free for non-commercial use, making it an excellent choice for personal projects.

Possible disadvantages of IrfanView

  • Outdated Interface
    The user interface may appear dated compared to more modern photo editing software, potentially affecting user experience.
  • Limited Advanced Editing
    While IrfanView offers basic editing tools, it lacks advanced photo editing features that are available in other software like Adobe Photoshop.
  • Windows-Only
    Natively available only for Windows operating systems, limiting its availability for MacOS and Linux users.
  • Commercial Use Requires License
    Although free for personal use, commercial use requires the purchase of a license, which might be a consideration for businesses.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic features are user-friendly, some advanced functionalities may have a steeper learning curve for new users.

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 IrfanView

Overall verdict

  • IrfanView is generally regarded as a reliable and effective tool for viewing and managing images, making it a suitable choice for both casual users and those needing more advanced features.

Why this product is good

  • IrfanView is considered good because it is a fast, compact, and feature-rich image viewer that supports a wide range of file formats. It is also free for non-commercial use, which adds to its appeal. The program offers basic editing capabilities, batch processing options, and a variety of plugins to extend its functionality. Additionally, it is known for its efficient performance and low resource consumption.

Recommended for

    IrfanView is recommended for individuals who need a lightweight and quick image viewer with basic editing tools. It's suitable for photographers, graphic designers, and anyone looking for a free and versatile program for managing large image libraries efficiently.

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

IrfanView videos

Review of irfanview photo editing software

More videos:

  • Review - IrfanView 4.37 - review by SoftPlanet
  • Tutorial - Irfanview Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VS Code and IrfanView)
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
Image Editing
0 0%
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Photos & Graphics
0 0%
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 IrfanView

VS Code Reviews

  1. dksinden
    ยท Working at SpeechKit ยท

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. Youโ€™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

IrfanView Reviews

20+ Picasa Alternatives And Best Similar Apps Like Picasa 2022
The only con we have regarding IrfanView is that its interface looks very dated and doesnโ€™t fit well with modern OS designs. Despite that, itโ€™s one of the best Picasa alternatives you can use today if you want some neat image organization and an image editor packed with features, in a package thatโ€™s free to use.
15 Best Google Picasa Alternatives You Should Use (2022)
If you have an old rig that canโ€™t handle new powerful tools and are looking for a lightweight photo management app, then IrfanView will be an excellent choice for you. It is just 3MB in size so that it wonโ€™t take any space on your computer and in terms of resources also it is pretty lightweight.
Source: techdator.net
10 Best Google Picasa Alternatives You Should Use
IrfanView is a free photo viewer and organizer for Windows which happens to be very light both in size and resource requirements. This makes it a great software for users who are using older generations of Windows PC and want something lean and light. Coming just at 3 MB, IrfanView doesnโ€™t take any space on your computer and can run on any device. One of the biggest benefits...
Source: beebom.com
10 Best Photo Viewer For Windows 10 [2020]
The community can build plugins that can be used to add more functionality to the app, check IrfanView plugins page for more about this. The app is available in 32 bit and 64 bit both variant and look and feel of the app can be customized with skins.
7 Best Photo Viewer Apps for Windows 10 in 2019
It creates slideshows within no time. One of the coolest things about IrfanView is it opens in a flash. Itโ€™s super fast and reliable. It supports batch processing.IrfanView app has got a good development team and we see new features added to it every couple of months.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VS Code seems to be a lot more popular than IrfanView. While we know about 1215 links to VS Code, we've tracked only 3 mentions of IrfanView. 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 (1215)

  • History of JavaScript: Browser wars, ECMAScript, Node.js, TypeScript, and React
    Visual Studio Code, a code editor created by Microsoft, was first introduced on April 29, 2015, at the Build conference. - Source: dev.to / about 8 hours ago
  • How to Get Your First Tool Online
    The step up from there is an editor with a built-in agent like Cursor, Google Antigravity, Windsurf, or VS Code with a coding extension. These are code editors with an AI agent living inside them, and the difference is the responsible party for getting things from place to place. Instead of the software creator shuttling code between windows, the AI agent edits the project files directly and runs the GitHub and... - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
  • Agentic Engineering: What Does AI Coding Really Cost?
    For IDE-heavy teams, BYOK (bring your own key) can be interesting, no matter whether you live in WebStorm or VS Code. On the JetBrains side, the JetBrains AI plans and Junie BYOK docs allow it, and most VS Code AI extensions offer the same idea: keep the IDE, connect provider keys, pay the provider. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Best Markdown Editors for Developers
    Option 1: Raw editing in IDE. You open the .md file in VS Code or whatever you use. Syntax highlighting shows you the structure. Maybe you toggle a preview pane. This works for quick edits but becomes painful for anything involving tables, diagrams, or complex formatting. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Document Generation for Developers: Security, Compliance, and Build-vs-Buy Decisions for the Template-Plus-Data Pipeline
    You'll need Python 3.8+ and pip for the quickstart, with venv recommended for isolation. Install the requests library for HTTP calls. VS Code with the Python extension works well as an editor, though PyCharm or Sublime Text work equally well. You'll also need a free Foxit developer account. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
View more

IrfanView mentions (3)

  • Presenting two slides from a presentation at once on two different monitors
    It doesn't sound like you need animations or other effects here, just still images. If that's so, you could: Export the slides to high resolution images (at least high enough to match the highest resolution your projectors are capable of). Use a PC to drive each projector; the cheapest, oldest PC in the place will be more than adequate. Run a program that can fill the screen with an image (and if needed, switch... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Is there a way to convert "photographed text" in to just "text" in a .pdf file?
    Scantailor (https://scantailor.org) is the tool for self-scanned books that exist in images (png, jpg, etc). However, I usually use Irfanview with PDF plugin (https://irfanview.com - download both Irfanview and the Plugins from this home page) I have elsewhere in r/PDF shown how you can do batch splitting of two-page scans, clean up muddy pages (yellowed or browned) . In the Reddit search box, search for... Source: over 3 years ago
  • University is rough sometimes...
    From there, open your favorite image editor (I use & recommend irfanView BTW ๐Ÿ˜) & paste it there. Then save it (I HIGHLY recommend saving it as a JPEG file). Source: over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VS Code and IrfanView, 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.

XnView MP - XnView is a free software that allows you to view, resize and edit your images. It supports more than 500 different formats!

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

FastStone Image Viewer - FastStone Image Viewer is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor.

Node.js - Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications

JPEGView - JPEGView is a small and fast viewer/editor for JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF and TIFF images.