The topic VS Code is the best productivity app on my PC, and I barely use it for coding anymore is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
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When hearing the name “Visual Studio Code,” people usually think you’re talking about a developer tool. It sounds like it’s for programmers who write Python scripts or spend all day debugging JavaScript. That was exactly how I pictured it for years, dismissing it as an IDE that I wouldn’t be interested in. I ended up downloading it one day to try my hand at coding, but slowly started using it in ways I hadn’t anticipated.
VS Code became a tool I reached for daily — only it wasn’t for coding. It became my go-to utility whenever I needed to open a log file, draft an article, or jot down notes. Now it’s one of the most-used applications on my PC, and its viability as a coding environment feels beside the point.
It made me realize that I was pigeonholing VS Code as a code editor. With a name like that, you can’t blame me. These days, I’ve adjusted my thinking and see it as a general-purpose text editor that happens to be an excellent choice for coding. Anyone who has judged the software by its name without giving it a shot is missing out on what would likely be their favorite text editor.
The main thing that sets VS Code apart from other productivity apps is that it doesn’t try to migrate your data into its system. Services like Notion, in particular, have this problem: they intertwine your entire workflow with the app. Obsidian is a little better since it just uses local files, but it still wants everything to live inside its vault. They’re solid apps, but they impose a structure that makes it difficult to shift away from them down the road. VS Code just lets you open a folder and doesn’t care how you have things arranged.
That file-native approach is what I like about VS Code. I store my notes as Markdown files inside a folder on my desktop, while my homelab documentation is a collection of plain text files with no consistent structure, and VS Code doesn’t complain about them. At the same time, I use it to open docker-compose files, configs, and CSVs. VS Code handles all the file types I throw at it, and gives me syntax highlighting and proper formatting for each one. I don’t need to worry about importing files, proprietary formats, or what happens if the app disappears one day. My files are just files, and VS Code is the interface for viewing them.
The extension ecosystem is the icing on the cake. I’ve toyed with extensions like the REST client, database browser, Markdown previewer, and diff tool, which work just as well as or better than standalone tools that I’ve tried. Having all of that available in the same window makes VS Code far more than a simple code editor.
One thing that sets VS Code apart from other text editors is its built-in terminal. This is a feature that other productivity apps can’t touch, and it boosts VS Code into a category of its own. Where other apps just let you write things down, VS Code lets you write a file and then do something with that file. Combining those two actions into the same context adds a level of convenience I can’t reach when alt-tabbing between a text editor and command prompt.
My homelab docs are a perfect example of what I mean. I keep notes for all the self-hosted services that I run, including the setup steps, the flags I used, and any issues I ran into along the way. In any other text editor, those would exist only as static notes. But in VS Code, a file can take up one pane, while the terminal sits in the bottom pane, and I can copy a command directly out of my documentation and run it in the same window. That’s a fundamental difference that the likes of Notepad++ and Obsidian just can’t touch.
It’s true that apps already exist to fill the same productivity niche I’m using VS Code for. Obsidian would be runner-up by my measure, as it works off of local Markdown files, has a vast plugin ecosystem, and is built as a knowledge management system that I’m already using VS Code for. Notion is another good choice for its database system alone.
The problem I have with those alternatives is that they cage my workflow. Obsidian just uses plain text, so it’s less offensive in that aspect, but it still tries to be the single place where all your thoughts reside. Notion is even worse, because it locks you into a proprietary service. VS Code is more versatile, handling any kind of text that I throw at it, so I stick with it over the other choices.
VS Code stops feeling like a typical code editor when you have multiple workspaces configured, can talk to WSL through the terminal, and have two or three extensions to complement your workflow. Start thinking of it as a general-purpose text editor instead of a development tool, and see if you still reach for anything else.
Visual Studio Code or VS Code is an IDE developed by Microsoft for Windows, Mac, and Linux to write, edit, format, run, and debug code.