Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) developed by Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms including Windows API, Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Microsoft Store and Microsoft Silverlight. It can produce both native code and managed code.
wtf does that even mean?
Uggg.... basically people like me use this software to write code and websites.
Microsoft decided to make all their software tools work inside Visual Studio. The editor understands language syntax and can make programming languages easier to edit. It can highlight errors while you type, saving the developer time by not requiring builds all the time. It also uses templates and can instantly generate a pre-made application with source code.
I'm not going to try and explain managed and native code. It would be very boring to you.
I'm not going to try and explain managed and native code. It would be very boring to you.
No, I would like it if you explained it to me in detail, so I could write a poem about it.
Otherwise I wouldn't have anything to talk strangers on the subway about.
As an attempt to simplify it down to a non-programmer:
If you're writing in English, it's perfectly fine to write in a basic text editor such as Notepad (see: GRRM the fat bastard). However, there are alternatives that add grammar and spell checking to text editing, such as Word, Google Docs, etc, which will make your text much more understandable by non-English speakers (especially when translating between languages) without requiring a secondary editor.
IDEs are similar, but they add grammar and spell checking specifically for code (also known as syntax checking). Most, if not all, programming languages require very specific combinations of punctuation in order to be understood, and an IDE will highlight any issues with your punctuation that need to be corrected before they can be executed as actual programs.
E.g. for Python (a programming language that relies on whitespace), combining tab characters and spaces results in a program that will never work. An IDE will identify the combination of tabs and spaces and point it out as an issue while you're writing the code.
If you're completely fluent in a programming language, an IDE is pointless since you can write code that will always be understood by the code interpreter (or compiler), similar to how a fluent English speaker can write phrases that can always be perfectly translated by an interpreter. However, if you're not fluent in a programming language, an IDE picks up the slack and points out the minor problems that will prevent your code from being understood by the interpreter.
TL;DR: an IDE points out the minor problems in any code you write, so you can focus on the bigger issues.
Thank you for your explanation, but somehow I feel more retarded after reading it.
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