My very subjective impressions and opinions about VS Code and IntelliJ mainly for TypeScript development.
Note 1: This is not an objective comparison, just a list of points that I noticed when working with the two tools, and which I liked better or worse in each case.
Note 2: For IntelliJ, I used IntelliJ Ultimate Edition 2020.3
Note 3: I have used VS Code for TypeScript much longer than IntellIJ so also for this reason, this is not a "fair" comparison, because many things will turn out only in the long run, if good or bad
Note 4: many/some of the differences maybe could be adjusted by changing settings and/or keyboard shortcuts. And of course by learning the tools better.
Note 5: the points are not ordered by anything
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VS Code starts up very fast
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I like VS Code UI more (looks more "clean", feels more stable and snappier)
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IntelliJ: I can run and debug Jest tests out-of-the-box (even with TypeScript), single test cases, suites or all tests.
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IntelliJ: I have a mature UI for displaying and running Jest tests, no need to deal with terminal output
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IntelliJ: I can open a "real" diff view for non matching assertions in my tests
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console.log from Jest tests with both IntelliJ and VS Code are "collected" and displayed at once and not grouped by testcase (probably Jest problem)
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IntelliJ from time to time makes my MacBook's fan going crazy (even running a zoom meeting with video a whole day doesn't give that noise)
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both tools support format with prettier on save 👍
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i don't like IntelliJ auto save feature, i'd like to write code in different files, then press a shortcut to save all my files (and trigger build/tests)
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by default IntelliJ shows way to many warnings from inspections, that I don't like/I don't care about. Note that I don't care about "clean code" much.
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in general IntelliJ has too many different highlights in the UI for warnings, errors, states, this-and-that. It confuses me more than it helps
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adding project settings to version control is way too confusing for me with IDEA, I prefer VS Code .settings folder here
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excluding files and folders from the explorer view/workspace is very easy in vscode and I do this a lot to remove for example, build folders, dot-files and so on
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IntelliJ: in general find it hard to get what settings are project-related and what settings are IDE-related (both better in Eclipse and VS Code)
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IntelliJ: I don't like the auto closing and hiding tool windows (Run, Build, Problems) in IDEA (maybe I could configure to make it better)
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In IntelliJ adding import statements seems more stable than in VS Code. In VS Code sometimes ctrl+space (intellisense) doesn't work for adding imports (esp. for new exports), only "Add all missing imports"works
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When renaming a symbol in a file that has the same name as the file, IntelliJ allows me to also rename the file in the same action. Don't know if that's possible with vs code (out-of-the-box)
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It's possible to insert a file from clipboard in IntelliJ using Cmd+C, I'm not able to paste files in vs code (only using drag'n'drop)
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I don't like VS Code's Peek Windows and don't miss them in IntelliJ
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Navigation using Cmd+Mouse seems to be more intuitive/precise in IntelliJ (again: I don't like Peek Windows):
- In a function, that defines other functions and returns those functions in an object, IntelliJ directly jumps to the declaration of the function, whereas vs code opens a peek window (shortcut needed to open declaration)
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Block Selection with mouse works way better/easier in IntelliJ than VS code for me
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I love VS Code Command Palette and navigation using Cmd+P, Cmd+Shift+P, Cmd+T, ...
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(Java) For java development I completely prefer IntelliJ over VS Code, as the Java Support in VS Code is too limited for me at the moment
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(Java) In IntelliK, I really miss Eclipse "instant" and incremental compiling here
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(Java) more than one time I was able to build/run my app using maven/gradle, but not in IDEA. Same for staring (e.g. mvn bootRun works, running in IDEA failed)