Microsoft's Visual Studio Code: From In-House Tool to Global Phenomenon
Microsoft has released a documentary about the creation of Visual Studio Code (VS Code), its free, cross-platform code editor. The documentary, titled 'The Story of VS Code,' tells the story of how Microsoft shifted its focus from exclusively developing tools for its own platforms to creating a product that could reach all developers.
According to the documentary, in 2011, Microsoft hired Erich Gamma to create a full integrated development environment (IDE) that could run in a web browser. He developed 'Monaco,' a web-based code editor, which formed the basis for what became VS Code.
Microsoft announced VS Code at Build 2015 and released its first non-preview version in early 2016. Within two years, it had become the most popular software development tool on earth, and a rare example of a Microsoft product that was widely adopted by the open source community.