Visual Studio
More info
- Creator
- Microsoft
- Released
- Type
- IDE
- License
- Proprietary (Community edition free)
- Website
- visualstudio.microsoft.com
Microsoft's full-size development environment for Windows — not to be confused with VS Code, which shares only the brand.
The first edition in 1997 bundled Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++ and Visual InterDev into one box. Over the years it has been the standard tool for Windows development: project files in .sln and .csproj, builds through MSBuild, form designers for WinForms and WPF, and a debugger that was for a long time the industry's best — with edit-and-continue, memory windows and conditional breakpoints.
The name causes perpetual confusion. Visual Studio Code is a completely different product: an Electron-based text editor, cross-platform, sharing no codebase. Visual Studio itself is Windows-only since the macOS version was discontinued in 2024, and the Community edition is free for individuals and small companies.