Idk where you got the "just works" idea from, but maybe you're looking for something more like the jetbrains IDEs?

I still use the terminal all the time with VSC.

Vs codium, which is based on vscode but spyware is stripped out

VSCode isn’t an IDE, although you can kinda make it work like an IDE with extensions.

I use Visual Studio Professional as my IDE at work, but we do a lot of C#.

VS Code is a great text editor for me. I write Markdown documents, manipulate bulk strings, and diff files with it. Aside from small scratch projects, its consistency and reliability as an IDE is varied for me. It's far from "just works", at least for the types of things I do (C, C++, C#, Rust) and isn't really on my list of editors I'd recommend for those workloads.

You can make it work, but it's going to require extensive time spent figuring out what extensions to use (and their quirks), ensure that you have a working setup to the language server, and learn how each environment wants you to setup its tasks and launch configurations, if applicable. Unlike larger IDEs like VS or Rider, it doesn't have a consistent "new project" process either, so you're on your own for that.

I don't think VSCode's mantra is that it "just works". It's definitely a "platform" IDE like Eclipse was.

I mostly use VS Code as a simple text editor with some of the CSV plugins. Though with JetBrains coming out with Fleet I've started to use that more. It doesn't have plugin support yet so it's not getting a lot of use.

For everything else I use whatever JetBrains IDE fits. For work, it's mostly IntelliJ, DataGrip, PyCharm, and DataSpell. At home, it's IntelliJ DataGrip and CLion. I guess I've kinda drank the JetBrains KookAid, but to me, it's worth the subscription to the all products pack. Especially if you are a polyglot since you keep a consistent IDE experience.

I've not had any of these issues with VSCode and i do use it just for the seamless Remote Development over SSH abilities.

The learning curve for it is a lot less than Vim even if Vim is likely a much more powerful tool imo

If you're already doing vim an tmux then vscode is not be worth it. The main draw of VSCode is LSP but you can get that from either COC or nvim+lspconfig. Those will still take more effort than vscode but it'll be more familiar.

I used to use VSCodium (pretty much just VSCode without the closed source binaries and telemetry) but now I completely use Helix and Zellij.

I used vscode for a few years, but I eventually went back to neovim/tmux. It's a lot less resource heavy, and it's easy to just ssh and jump in from home. I also much prefer a modal editor and I don't want to have to touch a mouse.

What do you mean fix it? I haven't had an issue with vscode or extensions unless I was going against established patterns.

For an actual recommendation, if you were fine with tmux and vim rock em yo. Don't forget vim has panes as well.

I use it because I'm switching between different projects and frameworks a lot. I found that me aligning with expected use patterns was easier than constantly adapting things for my magic setup.

I'm also not a config hound.

I switched to Zed recently. Very basic and definitely is not as feature rich as VSCodium but I'm sure it'll get better.

Just to add my two pennies (that's a saying, right?), I do use VS code as my default text editor. Professionally and for other projects in C++/C# I use the full fat visual studio. But for scripting, config editing, hex files, todo lists and such I use Code.

I've never been much of a person who needs to shave off every possible second in my workflow with macros and plugins, my brain is just not fast enough to out pace my hands, and the command palette does pretty much all I could wish for.

I of course wish it was fully open source, but for being the only Microsoft product I daily it isn't too bad.

I use VSCodium instead of Visual Studio Code. Visual Studio Code is a closed source distribution of "Code - OSS". The names get a little confusing but Code - OSS is like Chromium, Visual Studio Code is like Google Chrome, and Codium is like ungoogled chromium. I use this because Visual Studio Code masquerades as being Open Source while hiding most of the functionality behind extensions in the marketplace while not letting other tools access the marketplace.

Check out Pulsar

https://pulsar-edit.dev/

It's basically the continuation of Atom. It's got rough edges though regarding plugins but it's good enough to allow me to avoid VSCode.

Hell no, Emacs and nvim UX is far superior. I won't ever go back to clicking.

I used Sublime Text for YEARS, then they kept changing the license and pricing model, so with everyone at work going to VSCode I finally gave in for scripts and web dev. For Java (which is a decent chunk of my day) I use Intellij.

The problems you’re facing aren’t very clear. Can you expand a bit?

Lots of things in VS Code just work if you use the non-FOSS version and don’t need to install any system dependencies. For example, there are a ton of code formatters that you can install and run without tuning (eg I installed a SQL formatted last week with nothing else to do). There are also some that you need underlying dependencies for (eg if you want Rust extensions to work, you need the Rust toolchain; same for LaTeX); however this is true in any editor based on my experience (although some editors eg JetBrains might mask that through their GUI). Across both options, you often need to tune your extensions based on your use case or even hardware in some cases (eg setting up nonstandard PATH items).

YMMV for VSCodium, the FOSS version, primarily because it relies on a different extension registry per the terms of use. You can get around this as a user; as a vendor they cannot. Outside of tweaking the registry I’m not aware of anything else you need to do for parity.

Edit: forgot to tie all this back to my opener. What do you mean when you say it requires all sorts of work? Are you experiencing other issues than something I called out?

Nope, at work, we use JetBrains IDEs and for my personal stuff, I'm using Kate.

Seeing the hype wave for VS Code was so bizarre, like millions of people discovered features that were just bog standard in IDEs for a long time. Two colleagues tried to sell it to me and the features they chose to do so with, were the commit GUI and the embedded terminal.

My best guess is that if you weren't a programmer, then you didn't use an IDE and there just wasn't many good editors on Windows. Like, Notepad++ has been there since forever, but it doesn't have that many features. And Sublime has been around for a long time, too, but never made it big.

I do Rust and Go and VSCode has been fine for both so far. I put off trying it for ages out of a hatred/distrust of MS products, but I'm quite happy with it.

What's even the point then?

The point is that you can enable each separate extension you want running on your code editor or uninstall them if you're unsatisfied. This makes it as light as you want it to be - or as heavy as you need it to.

I was doing fine with just vim and tmux

VSCode is like vim without vim controls and in a browser. Seen that way, it makes more sense. With Vim, you have to hunt for obscure Github repositories and follow arcane installation instructions for hidden extensions that you may or may not need and you have to learn a whole-ass keyboard-shortcut-based programming language just to use any of it.

With VSCode, you click on Extensions, search what you want and it'll probably be there unless it's a toxic ecosystem like PHP/C# or some niche ecosystem that no one heard about.

This post reads like going to a Linux forum and asking for issues with the GTX660, which absolutely does not work on Linux: your concerns are legitimate and it's reasonable not to buy all the good comments on VS Code based on your personal experience. However, it works on my machine. And it also works for many others.

You also mention to have been doing fine with "just vim". I'd argue that you should face VS Code with the same humility you faced vim. If you're up to the task, take your time to learn its quirks just like you did with Vim's. Otherwise, you're better off ending your career with the toolsuite you know for now.

nothing is working out of the box

I mean, it cannot fly you to the moon, but depends on what you're expecting.

If nothing works, did you install it via the manual?

I use jetbrains' PyCharm. Work paid for it. It does the things I want it to do (works with docker, git integration, local history, syntax highlighting for every language I use, refactor:rename and move, safe delete, find usages,.find declaration, view library code, database integration, other stuff I'm forgetting)

It's good for new, unrelated stuff. For example if you're just starting to work with python, or just want to test some project, its much easier to setup than nvim or emacs. I also like intellij idea. I think in terms of just works, it is much better. But it is more resource intensive

everyone and their mother uses VS Code

This is usually a good reason to avoid something. Especially if that something comes from Microsoft.

I tried using VS Code but the fact that it's not fully open source (VSCodium has limitations) bothers me a lot, as does the presence of telemetry.

I like some of the convenience features, like having a file picker when you're writing paths, my students use it a lot, but I'm sticking with Kate.

Do not use Microsofts Telemetry Studio Code but Code-OSS or VSCodium.

See: https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/issues/267

Regarding your question Code is not powerful enough of what we do at work. There we use IntelliJ IDEA. Our frontend guys use Code as it's enough for them and they usually are not that quality oriented, be it their tools or their product. Sadly mediocre is enough.