Microsoft Visual Studio Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Developer at a university with 51-200 employees

Apr 16, 2013

Visual Studio .Net is the Best IDE for Programmers and IT Students

What is most valuable?

It was in 2004 when I first experienced Visual Studio 2003 as an IT student. Now that I am working as a programmer, I used the newer version which is Visual Studio 2008. Here are the few reasons why I chose .Net for so many years: • I can create console, Windows form, Web Forms, Smart device and mobile applications, XML web and windows services using different languages such as Visual Basic, C#, J# and C++ • I love the drag and drop ability of the items and controls using Visual Designers • I love the Toolbox with many useful and unique items that even Netbeans or Eclipse does not have such as Timer, DateTimePicker, Process Dialog and etc. • I adore the integrated, highly professional looking Crystal in VS 2008 and later versions • Express editions are free and suitable for students

What needs improvement?

• Visual Studio.Net is only used for Microsoft Windows Operating system. • Other than the express edition, Visual studio products are not for free. • Crystal Report is not included in Visual Studio 2010 and 2012 and requires a separate download.

What other advice do I have?

Being an educator and a programmer for 8 years, I can say that Visual Studio .Net is the best development tool for desktop and web applications. I am absolutely recommending Visual Studio .Net to my fellow programmers, web developers and even to students, hobbyists and new learners.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user6579Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Jul 27, 2013

Nicely explained article, I really agree with author on some points that are:

1) Provide great feature for creating User Interface with drag and drop functionality
2) Provides flexibility to use different computer languages for creating the windows based application
3) And the most beneficial feature of .NET framework is Intellisense which helps the developers to code in speedy and efficient way.
4) The applications written on .NET platform may appear or work differently on another Operating Systems i.e Not much platform independent.

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it_user1370709

Programmer Specialist II at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jul 22, 2020

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Great code management feature; improved stability has increased reliability for us

Pros and Cons

"Code management is a new and convenient feature."

"File installations are heavy."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution to develop web applications. I'm a programmer specialist II and we're customers of Visual Studio.

What is most valuable?

I think the code management is the most convenient and valuable new feature. Deployment of the solution is also a very smooth process.

What needs improvement?

I think the file installations could be improved because they're very heavy and I'd like to see the solution support Python for developing purposes.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In the previous versions, the product wasn't so stable, but in this latest 2019 version they have fixed the issue and it's now a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good in this solution. We have about five developers in the company using it on a regular basis.

How are customer service and technical support?

I'm very satisfied with the support.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to install, the only issue being that it takes up a lot of memory. We had two people involved with the deployment and implementation took a few days. We didn't use any consultants, we just followed the documentation.

What other advice do I have?

This is a simple product to use and the best advice I can give is to follow the documentation.

I would rate this solution an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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it_user477687

Software Engineer at a tech services company

Nov 26, 2017

It provides me the ability to deploy applications directly from it

What do you like best?

It is a multi-purpose IDE, where I can easily build C++, C#, and many other languages projects without any difficulty. I can develop mobile apps, desktop applications, web applications, etc.
It provides me the ability to deploy applications directly from the Visual Studio.
Its layout editor is pretty fast and easy to use.
It is becoming the one and the only IDE which give us the ability to build cross platform applications at one place with Xamarin support.
I can use my core code across Android, iOS, and Windows apps. I only have to set its layout. This is also in the IDE.

What do you dislike?

Its IntelliSense, while overall good, I think it can be improved by covering the local status. It should show local variables first in IntelliSense and other related variables afterward.

Recommendations to others considering the product

If you are student or new to programming, then I will recommend you use Visual Studio for development, because it is a complete IDE and easy to use.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user1164

Infrastructure Expert at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jul 13, 2012

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.NET is great for business apps, editors, anything that doesn't require really optimized code.

Valuable Features:

It provides manageable code execution, it's object oriented, the .net framework comes with ado.net, it uses xml to transfer data between the various layers in the architecture, has error handling properties, automatic memory management, disconnected architecture, and is a multi-platform application. It is a consistent programming model, has multi-language integration, and ease of development.

Room for Improvement:

Needs skills, and some versions have less features. One cannot run unsaved code or use generics and operator overloading. It requires a .net framework which xp sp3 doesn’t have.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user4401Developer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Sep 7, 2013

Yes, you are right Mark, by using functions the developer can get an improved performance.

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reviewer1249881

Software Designer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Apr 22, 2022

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It's helpful when coding, but I would like to see more detailed error and failure reports

Pros and Cons

"Visual Studio makes it easier to compile the code and shows me the errors upfront when coding. For example, it will tell me when a reference is incorrect or if there's a mistake within the function calls. I like how it highlights with a red underline so that I know there's an error at that point."

"I would like to see Visual Studio improve reporting to give us more details on failures. When there are failures, it's difficult to debug. It would be helpful to have more error information to help us to identify the issue and resolve it. I want to know more about software failures and exceptions in the system."

What is most valuable?

Visual Studio makes it easier to compile the code and shows me the errors upfront when coding. For example, it will tell me when a reference is incorrect or if there's a mistake within the function calls. I like how it highlights with a red underline so that I know there's an error at that point.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see Visual Studio improve reporting to give us more details on failures. When there are failures, it's difficult to debug. It would be helpful to have more error information to help us to identify the issue and resolve it. I want to know more about software failures and exceptions in the system.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Microsoft Visual Studio for around six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Visual Studio is quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Visual Studio is scalable. I can install the latest modules and run my software through them.

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft support is good enough, though sometimes it could be more responsive.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've been using CLion IDE on Linux. It's good, but Visual Studio is more intuitive, and Microsoft offers better support.

How was the initial setup?

Visual Studio is straightforward. It was easy to set up and use.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Visual Studio seven out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

it_user808128

Director Research Development with 1,001-5,000 employees

Feb 25, 2018

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Most valuable features include code navigation by symbols and document auto formatting

Pros and Cons

"It is definitely sophisticated and provides many out-of-the-box features. Going community has boosted all that."
"Most valuable features include code navigation by symbols and document auto formatting."

"Since it is a heavy product, it is somewhat slow in building and executing the code in a localhost environment and it consumes a lot of resources."

What is our primary use case?

Developing various .NET solutions, making sure code is well tested and debugging issues with it, then publishing the code from the application.

How has it helped my organization?

No one can say that VS IDE is bad. It is definitely sophisticated and provides many out-of-the-box features. Going community has boosted all that.

What is most valuable?

Code navigation by symbols
Document auto formatting
Testing tools
Publishing tools
Performance testing
Reference usage

What needs improvement?

Since it is a heavy product, it is somewhat slow in building and executing the code in a localhost environment and it consumes a lot of resources.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user1077

Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jul 2, 2012

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Visual Studio.NET is a state of the art, Integrated Development Environment (IDE) from Microsoft Corporation.

Valuable Features:

Offers an excellent platform to develop Desktop, Web, and Mobile Applications.Supports various programming languages.Includes various features for rapid application development (Like Drag & Drop, IntelliSense).

Room for Improvement:

As .NET Framework bundles more and more components, utilities, and API's, the size of the downloadable is large..NET desktop applications can run only on a windows platform.Code editor is expensive.

Other Advice:

Even though Visual Studio.NET offers great features and functions, the cross-platform issues cannot be overlooked.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user6579Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Jul 27, 2013

Great article by author Engineer359, certainly the Visual Studio.NET is a state of the art, Integrated Development Environment available in the market. Even there are some advantages and disadvantages of the framework which i would like to add:

Advantages:
1) Easy to learn
2) Can be used for creating Desktop, Web and Mobile Applications

Disadvantages:
1) As said by the author .NET Framework bundles more and more components, utilities, and API's so the learning curve is big.
2) Desktop Applications cab be created for windows platform only.