Item: Microsoft Visual Studio
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Visual Studio

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As a developer I rely heavily on Microsoft Visual Studio. It is a full featured IDE that allows me to develop, test and debug code in one location. The product is mostly stable and rarely lets me down even when working with large projects. I use other tools for working with my repositories or working writing scripts (bat, sh, etc.) as there are other tools that I prefer for these tasks. I also will use command line tools for building the project on platforms other than Windows.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Integrates coding, debugging and testing
Flexible window layout so code can be viewed the way I like
Using Visual Studio with cmake allow easy management of projects

Cons

Tracking of the current file in solution explorer is great except that it should filter out external dependencies
It can be a bit heavy if you just want to test a small piece of code
I Prefer other tools for managing my Git repositories

Return on Investment

VS is a stable reliable platform for use across the team
Our business has relied on VS as the core IDE for over 20 years

Usability

Microsoft Visual Studio is very flexible in the layout of its many windows, so you can configure it how you want. It can be difficult to figure out what needs to be installed when you first set it up. However, once it is installed, the default layout should have you coding quickly.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Visual Studio Code and Delphi

I like that you don't have to install a heap of plugins before you can start coding as I am never sure which plugins are ok/safe/standard. We have had issues with painful licensing in some other products.

Key Insights

Do you think Microsoft Visual Studio delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft Visual Studio's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft Visual Studio live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Microsoft Visual Studio go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Microsoft Visual Studio again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Beyond Compare, Sourcetree

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft Visual Studio is great for working with large projects especially when combined with cmake to generate and maintain the projects. It is very flexible to lay out the different windows (code, error, watch windows, etc) the way you want them and has all the tools you need in one place.

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

Microsoft Visual Studio is a Development Staple

Software Version