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VS Code VS iTerm

Compare VS Code VS iTerm and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

VS Code logo VS Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

iTerm logo iTerm

iTerm is a full featured terminal emulation program written for OS X using Cocoa.
  • VS Code Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-09
  • iTerm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-04

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.

iTerm features and specs

  • Multiple Tabs and Panes
    iTerm allows users to open multiple tabs and split panes, increasing productivity and making it easier to manage multiple sessions.
  • Customizability
    Users can extensively customize iTerm, from changing themes and colors to creating profiles and personalized shortcuts.
  • Search and Highlighting
    iTerm provides powerful search features, including the ability to highlight matches, which can help users quickly find information within terminal outputs.
  • Scripting Support
    iTerm supports AppleScript and Python scripting, which allows users to automate tasks and integrate with other applications.
  • Persistent Sessions
    This feature enables users to maintain session states, allowing them to resume work exactly where they left off, even after restarting applications.

Possible disadvantages of iTerm

  • Complexity
    The vast number of features in iTerm might be overwhelming for new users or those who prefer simpler terminal applications.
  • Resource Usage
    iTerm can consume more resources compared to simpler terminal applications, which might be a concern for users with limited computing power.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features, iTerm requires a certain amount of time and effort to learn to fully utilize its capabilities.
  • MacOS Exclusive
    iTerm is only available for MacOS, which excludes users on other operating systems who might want to use it.

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 iTerm

Overall verdict

  • iTerm is generally considered a robust and versatile terminal emulator, especially favored among macOS users who require advanced features and customizability. Its comprehensive set of tools makes it a solid choice for power users who need more than the basic Terminal app.

Why this product is good

  • iTerm is a popular terminal emulator for macOS that provides users with a range of features such as split panes, search functionality, autocomplete, and support for various text encodings. It is customizable, supports profiles, and has features like instant replay and paste history, which can enhance productivity for developers and system administrators.

Recommended for

    iTerm is recommended for software developers, system administrators, and IT professionals who work extensively on the command line and require advanced features like split windows, custom key bindings, and session management. It is also suitable for users who value flexibility and customizability in their terminal applications.

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

iTerm videos

+ Add

I Dumped iTerm for Warp, Should You?

More videos:

  • Review - Productive MacOS Terminal Setup with Vim, Iterm2, and Oh My Zsh
  • Review - Alacritty vs iTerm vs Terminal vs Hyper

Category Popularity

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

VS Code

iTerm

Text Editors
100 100%
Text Editors
0% 0
SSH
0 0%
SSH
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
IDE
0% 0
Server Management
0 0%
Server Management
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using VS Code and iTerm. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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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 iTerm

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

iTerm Reviews

We have no reviews of iTerm yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VS Code seems to be a lot more popular than iTerm. While we know about 1215 links to VS Code, we've tracked only 1 mention of iTerm. 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 / 5 days 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 / 19 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 2 months ago
View more

iTerm mentions (1)

  • Why Does The Business Care? with Michael Heap
    Michael: Terminal-wise, it's iTerm2. There are lots of new ones that I like the idea of things like Fig. But I've just used iTerm for so long that that's my go-to. Use Zsh as your shell. Don't go for something like Oh My Zsh as a framework. I like to build the config file myself, so I know exactly what each piece is doing. I think my config file is less than 100 lines, and it does 90% of what the frameworks do. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VS Code and iTerm, 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.

KiTTY - KiTTY is a fork from version 0.70 of PuTTY. It adds extra features to PuTTY.

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

Console - Console is a Windows console window enhancement.

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

MobaXterm - Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more

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