As I see it, VSCode takes a bunch of inspiration from a well set up Emacs. Obviously, VSCode isn't as extensible as Emacs is; and isn't free-as-in-freedom. (An

As I see it, VSCode takes a bunch of inspiration from a well set up Emacs. Obviously, VSCode isn't as extensible as Emacs is; and isn't free-as-in-freedom. (And a few people understand 'emacs' to mean its non-modal keybindings that readline / macOS adopt, like C-a and C-e). VSCode's command palette (which includes the keyboard shortcuts) reminds me of a nice Emacs M-x menu. As is its tight integration with developer-environment tools while still remaining lighter weight than a more typical IDE. -- e.g. its git editor, its terminal and console output, and a repository of plugins/extensions.