Is VSCode becoming too complex after each update?
I exclusively use VSC. Its greatest appeal to me a few years ago was its simplicity. If there were shortcomings, usually I'd find a workaround (e.g., an extension) and things were mostly fine. But I feel like with each update, I'm introduced to a whole bunch of features that overall make VSC more complex. I want to get the job done, but nowadays I must constantly keep track of recent changes in VSC.
Do you feel the same? What's the solution/alternative to this complexity?
Why must you keep track of changes? No one is forcing you to figure out how to use things.
It’s nice for power users. I know many people who essentially use vsc as notepad++, and that’s okay. I also know people that drool over change logs and excitedly talk about new features over lunch.
Both are okay, and it’s a spectrum. Use what you think is helpful.
I almost never read the what's new tab. Ctrl+f4 that thing. Why do you "must constantly keep track" of these changes? No one has asked me about VSC features during an interview yet. And if they do, well, they're gonna see just how high my eyebrows can reach.
VSC is a fine piece of software but I have a number of youngish coworkers who preach and practice all kinds of flows with it. To me, it is a bit off-putting because they're very insistent of pulling other people into the... let's call it an eco system.
I reverted back to sublime (and jetbrains for projects beyonda certain size).
My complaint with VS Code is the amount of notifications and distractions.
Already, there's plenty to deal with. Work software should be geared towards productivity, not engagement with their marketplace.
I don’t pay attention to updates mostly. Occasionally I’ll read the release notes, but I come from the era of writing code in a text editor and VSC makes that less painful for me. I’d say unless you’re tracking a feature being developed, don’t worry about it and get back to coding.
Can you give some examples? What do you use it for and what's so new recently? I haven't noticed anything new, and I've never felt like I need to keep up with changes, it's been basically the same for years now.
I have not noticed any added complexity during the last years or even changes that force me to relearn certain things. I even feel like VS Code becomes better and better.
From a user perspective I feel like it's barely changed over the years (at least in terms of concepts and number of buttons, etc). I don't feel like I'm having to re-learn or keep up with anything at all. I can't speak to the underlying codebase complexity, but to be honest it's not really my problem
I would except to get up and running doesn't require you to keep up with the feature releases or even and extensions really. You can install, create a file with the right extension and have syntax highlighting and formatting functionality out of the box. That's a pretty simple process!
It's still easy to use. I can easily find add-ons via the market and get them running doing mostly everything I need in a couple clicks. I disabled the news pop-up because it's annoying. Remote wsl / codespace integration just works.
I need to sort out getting my setting sync working so I don't have to keep searching every 6 months how to turn off paren matching when I use a new OS or cloud vscode ide.
I feel the same. Many times I just wish VSC would go in maintenance mode forever. It used to be such a magical piece of software when I first discovered it in 2019 and made the switch for Sublime. Slowly but surely the scope creep increased and now it’s well on its way to become a bloated monster. Every time I get a notification about a new release I hope they didn’t introduce too many things this time.
All I want is multi-window workspaces where I can split out any tab or panel into a new window.
I understand why it was hard to implement five years ago when people started complaining. But five years of not working on the top requested feature for the tool is just embarrassing. I'd even pay for it, if you let me.
I disagree. I haven't touched a VS Code config in over three years of updates. I don't have the need to do anything but write my code.
If you don't want release notes, you can turn them off.
Settings JSON - update.showReleaseNote = false
Settings GUI - Uncheck "Update: Show Release Notes"
I dont know if it's being too complex, but with the latest update some actions like renaming or opening a file at times are bit slow on my mac. I'm not against new features but really, i'd wish the basic operations would never get worse over time.
I immediately close out of the changelog page after an update. I have no idea what's been added to VSC in the past 5 years.
Still seems snappy on an SSD to me. They can add whatever they want as long as it stays almost-FOSS and performant.
Embrace the complexity and switch to a JetBrains IDE.
if sublime text had a builtin debugger, a built in terminal and better code completion UX, then it would take over this web browser
but sublime text devs are as lazy as vscode devs unfortunatly
i am still waiting for a decent editor to come up, and yet people focus on the useless stuff that i don't need when i write code..
project introspection(completion,refactor,goto), debugging, version control
3 areas where they need to focus, the rest is 2000% pointless and a waste of development ressources