433
Devs sound alarm after Microsoft subtracts C/C++ extension from VS Code forks
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
433 points (97.6% liked)
Programming
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Ballmer was definitely one of the CEOs of all time. I'm not convinced cocaine didn't play a large role in shaping Microsoft.
But Seattle doesn’t do cocaine Remember Microsoft is on the east side
Okay…. Cocaine probably played a large part
Best cocaine in Puget Sound comes from Bellevue, prove me wrong
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Good example why you don't want to use and rely on proprietary software (the extension is not 100% open source as I understand), if there are free (as in source code and license) alternatives.
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Microsoft
C/C++ extension
VS Code
so sad 🎤 🎻😢
Does Theia have C/C++ extensions?
I think a lot of people would really benefit from learning neovim
Or Helix, it has a less steeper curve
Not an issue. Install Clangd and CodeLLDB. They are much better anyway (see my other comment).
The real golden jewel that Microsoft keeps to itself is the Remote SSH extension. There's no open source alternative as far as I know.
There's also Pylance but that only matters if you're using Python.
It looks like the extension is licensed under MIT https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-cpptools You can "simply" fork it and provide builds yourself, right?
Not the case. There are binary components.
It doesn't matter though because the Clangd & CodeLLDB extensions completely replace it and are actually waaaaaaay better.
With Microsoft's C++ extension it always rinsed the CPU - there were files I had to avoid opening because then it would analyse them and I'd have to kill it. The code intelligence also seemed very "heuristic" and was quite slow.
Clangd fixes all of that. It's fast, doesn't choke on huge files, and if you have compile_commands.json it's actually the first properly fast and robust C++ IDE I've ever used. You know if you've used a Java IDE the code intelligence just works and is fast and reliable. It's like that.
I think they did a good job of writing a neutral comparison. Based on what it said, I think there's no reason for me to stop using VS Code right now, but I'll keep an eye on Theia and reconsider it my needs change.
(...), e.g. via a user-customizable toolbar and how views can be layouted.
I WILL find these people and hurt them. Nobody will blame me.
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More and more engineers wok with cursor.
I started using Lapce. That or Zed just I installed Lapce first. I still use VS Code at work but personal machines I've moved on
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