Atom vs Visual Studio Code: What are the differences?

Atom and Visual Studio Code (VS Code) are both popular text editors used in software development. Here are the key differences between Atom and Visual Studio Code:

1. Performance and Resource Usage: Atom is built using web technologies and can be resource-intensive, especially when working with large projects or opening multiple files. It may experience occasional lags or slower startup times compared to VS Code. On the other hand, VS Code is built on the Electron framework but optimized for performance. It is known for its faster startup time, responsiveness, and efficient resource usage.

2. Extensibility and Ecosystem: VS Code has a larger and more mature ecosystem with a vast library of extensions available in the Visual Studio Code Marketplace. The VS Code extensions cover a wide range of functionalities, including language support, code snippets, linters, debuggers, and integration with various frameworks and tools. Atom also has a decent collection of extensions but may have fewer options and a smaller community compared to VS Code.

3. User Interface and Customization: Atom follows a more minimalistic approach, with a clean and intuitive design. It provides a simplified interface by default, which can be customized through themes and packages. On the other hand, VS Code offers a versatile user interface with more advanced features and a wide range of customization options. It allows users to personalize their editor's layout, color scheme, and toolbar configuration.

4. Built-in Features: Atom comes with a set of built-in features such as a file tree view, integrated Git support, and a command palette. However, compared to VS Code, Atom may have a more limited set of built-in functionalities. VS Code offers a rich set of features out of the box, including advanced code editing capabilities, IntelliSense, debugging tools, and integrated terminal. It provides a comprehensive development environment that caters to the needs of various programming languages and frameworks.

5. Company Support and Updates: Atom is developed and maintained by GitHub, while Visual Studio Code is developed and supported by Microsoft. Both editors receive regular updates and improvements but being backed by Microsoft, VS Code benefits from a larger development team and frequent updates. Microsoft actively maintains and enhances VS Code, addressing issues, introducing new features, and providing excellent community support.

In summary, Atom, built by GitHub, is known for its simplicity, and focuses on customization and extensibility, offering a hackable experience for developers. VS Code, developed by Microsoft, emphasizes performance and versatility, providing a rich set of features, built-in Git integration, and extensive language support.