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It is one thing to port software, initially created in a different language, to webassembly. The benefit is obvious, because it can now be distributed over web.

It is one thing to port software, initially created in a different language, to webassembly. The benefit is obvious, because it can now be distributed over web. For VSCode, the first question to ask would be, why is it built with web technologies in the first place.

3836293648 4y ago
VSC is web because it was created for the web. It was turned into a desktop program later
- mcluck 4y ago
  That's not true. It was essentially forked from Atom which was built as a desktop application first. It just so happens that Electron makes it easy to run just about anywhere and web tech is arguably the easiest to use for building UIs
  - canadianfella 4y ago
  - lost_tourist 4y ago
    If not easy then certainly most widespread and "common" amongst the current developer population
  - magnio 4y ago
    The work on VSCode began before Atom appeared. This talk by Erich Gamma about the history of VSCode is very interesting: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-vs-code-day-2021/keynote https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-... When Erich Gamma joined the Visual Studio team in 2011, he set on creating a coding platform for the web, starting with the Monaco editor. This was followed by efforts to bring an IDE to the browser such as Monaco Workbench and Visual Studio Online IDE. However, those didn't attract many users, so the team decided to pivot to the desktop with Project Ticino using Electron by GitHub, and thus born VSCode as we know today. Arguably, this pivot has been wildly successful, from which blossomed many nice technology such as LSP, RDP, and remote coding. It is only natural that they now work on bringing VSCode back to the browser, completing the most transformative revolution in code editor for the past 10 years.
    - mcluck 4y ago
      Huh, my mistake. I guess I misremembered it
    - int_19h 4y ago
      RDP is the Windows Remote Desktop Protocol that was in use for decades before VSCode; VSCode's own remoting doesn't use it. I'd say that, in addition to LSP, the other big thing that came out of VSCode is DAP: https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol.
      - magnio 4y ago
        My bad, you're right. I confused myself thinking RDP means Remote Debugging Protocol.
  - fizfaz 4y ago
    IIRC It was "web first": See the presentation from Erich Gamma: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-vs-code-day-2021/keynote https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-... approx. minute 6.
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    Sorry but Atom lovers have an habit to distorce facts. "VS Code an overnight success...10 years in the making with Erich Gamma" https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-vs-code-day-2021/keynote https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-...
    - mcluck 4y ago
      Bold of you to assume that I am an Atom fan. My understanding was the Atom happened then Electron was extracted as the core then VS Code was built on top of that to fill the gap. Given that VS Code only moved in to the browser very recently, it didn't make sense to me to claim it was built for the web. Edit: faulty memory at it's finest. I was wrong
      - pjmlp 4y ago
        Sorry about that, it just so happens it is common meme in Atom community to bring this up.
  - mhd 4y ago
    > web tech is arguably the easiest to use for building UIs ...for an ecosystem full of web developers.
    - mcluck 4y ago
      I really want native apps to be as simple to work with for UIs but it's just not. Qt is great but still more cumbersome and I'm not aware of anything better that gets you close to the development speed and flexibility given by HTML and CSS. Very honestly: please let me know if there is anything. I really would love to build more native apps without fighting the UI system
      - mhd 4y ago
        What do you mean, fighting the UI system? Non-native looking UI elements? If that's the case, I have to agree with you, actually. For web-like desktop GUIs, web technologies seem to be the fastest vehicles, unless someone releases an updated Display PostScript… Other than that, I've had way faster dev experiences in Delphi, Cocoa, SmallTalk and Tk. Mostly because you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
        mcluck 4y ago
        That is exactly what I mean. There's benefits to using native UI elements but they really limit your creativity. It's also difficult if you're building something for multiple platforms but you want to make sure that you have a consistent experience.
odo1242 4y ago
VSCode was build with web technologies because this allows the “Remote” feature to work – by using a client and server internally, you can put the server on a different device and transparently develop on that device as long as there is a suitable method of forwarding internet traffic. (This was the intent for the IDE from the beginning.)
- gmfawcett 4y ago
  That doesn't follow. Client/server architectures existed long before the Web did.
  - whatwherewhy 4y ago
    It starts to follow as soon as one of the participants are using VSCode in their browser. It's perfect for example for programming lesson. A way to provide the students with a fully working environment available immediately via 1 click on a link, guaranteed to work on any platform - even iPads.
    - gmfawcett 4y ago
      No, I mean that remoting doesn't depend on Web technologies. (Not even the VSCode remoting implementation does, AFAIK.) So it doesn't follow from "VSCode does remoting" that VSCode is built on that stack.
      - whatwherewhy 4y ago
        I get what you mean. I am saying remoting becomes much more useful if the client automatically works on every platform including tablets and even mobile phones.

3836293648 4y ago

VSC is web because it was created for the web. It was turned into a desktop program later

mcluck 4y ago
That's not true. It was essentially forked from Atom which was built as a desktop application first. It just so happens that Electron makes it easy to run just about anywhere and web tech is arguably the easiest to use for building UIs
- canadianfella 4y ago
- lost_tourist 4y ago
  If not easy then certainly most widespread and "common" amongst the current developer population
- magnio 4y ago
  The work on VSCode began before Atom appeared. This talk by Erich Gamma about the history of VSCode is very interesting: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-vs-code-day-2021/keynote https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-... When Erich Gamma joined the Visual Studio team in 2011, he set on creating a coding platform for the web, starting with the Monaco editor. This was followed by efforts to bring an IDE to the browser such as Monaco Workbench and Visual Studio Online IDE. However, those didn't attract many users, so the team decided to pivot to the desktop with Project Ticino using Electron by GitHub, and thus born VSCode as we know today. Arguably, this pivot has been wildly successful, from which blossomed many nice technology such as LSP, RDP, and remote coding. It is only natural that they now work on bringing VSCode back to the browser, completing the most transformative revolution in code editor for the past 10 years.
  - mcluck 4y ago
    Huh, my mistake. I guess I misremembered it
  - int_19h 4y ago
    RDP is the Windows Remote Desktop Protocol that was in use for decades before VSCode; VSCode's own remoting doesn't use it. I'd say that, in addition to LSP, the other big thing that came out of VSCode is DAP: https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol.
    - magnio 4y ago
      My bad, you're right. I confused myself thinking RDP means Remote Debugging Protocol.
- fizfaz 4y ago
  IIRC It was "web first": See the presentation from Erich Gamma: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-vs-code-day-2021/keynote https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-... approx. minute 6.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  Sorry but Atom lovers have an habit to distorce facts. "VS Code an overnight success...10 years in the making with Erich Gamma" https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-vs-code-day-2021/keynote https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/visual-studio-code-...
  - mcluck 4y ago
    Bold of you to assume that I am an Atom fan. My understanding was the Atom happened then Electron was extracted as the core then VS Code was built on top of that to fill the gap. Given that VS Code only moved in to the browser very recently, it didn't make sense to me to claim it was built for the web. Edit: faulty memory at it's finest. I was wrong
    - pjmlp 4y ago
      Sorry about that, it just so happens it is common meme in Atom community to bring this up.
- mhd 4y ago
  > web tech is arguably the easiest to use for building UIs ...for an ecosystem full of web developers.
  - mcluck 4y ago
    I really want native apps to be as simple to work with for UIs but it's just not. Qt is great but still more cumbersome and I'm not aware of anything better that gets you close to the development speed and flexibility given by HTML and CSS. Very honestly: please let me know if there is anything. I really would love to build more native apps without fighting the UI system
    - mhd 4y ago
      What do you mean, fighting the UI system? Non-native looking UI elements? If that's the case, I have to agree with you, actually. For web-like desktop GUIs, web technologies seem to be the fastest vehicles, unless someone releases an updated Display PostScript… Other than that, I've had way faster dev experiences in Delphi, Cocoa, SmallTalk and Tk. Mostly because you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
      - mcluck 4y ago
        That is exactly what I mean. There's benefits to using native UI elements but they really limit your creativity. It's also difficult if you're building something for multiple platforms but you want to make sure that you have a consistent experience.

odo1242 4y ago

VSCode was build with web technologies because this allows the “Remote” feature to work – by using a client and server internally, you can put the server on a different device and transparently develop on that device as long as there is a suitable method of forwarding internet traffic. (This was the intent for the IDE from the beginning.)

gmfawcett 4y ago
That doesn't follow. Client/server architectures existed long before the Web did.
- whatwherewhy 4y ago
  It starts to follow as soon as one of the participants are using VSCode in their browser. It's perfect for example for programming lesson. A way to provide the students with a fully working environment available immediately via 1 click on a link, guaranteed to work on any platform - even iPads.
  - gmfawcett 4y ago
    No, I mean that remoting doesn't depend on Web technologies. (Not even the VSCode remoting implementation does, AFAIK.) So it doesn't follow from "VSCode does remoting" that VSCode is built on that stack.
    - whatwherewhy 4y ago
      I get what you mean. I am saying remoting becomes much more useful if the client automatically works on every platform including tablets and even mobile phones.