Bringing SQL support into Visual Studio Code
What should you use instead? Microsoft recommends switching to the MSSQL extension for Visual Studio Code. That answer shouldn’t be surprising, as Microsoft has been moving much of its Azure development tooling from stand-alone applications to Visual Studio Code extensions. If you’ve been using Azure Data Studio for other Azure-managed data offerings, they will have their own VS Code extensions, with PostgreSQL and Cosmos DB already available and MySQL in development.
It’s an approach that makes sense: Visual Studio Code has become an important part of many developers’ toolchains, whether they’re using Windows, macOS, or Linux. By shipping tools as extensions (using VS Code’s JavaScript SDKs), Microsoft needs only to write them once and they will run anywhere a developer uses their editor. VS Code is lightweight compared to the Visual Studio IDE, with easy-to-access terminals that work with both local and cloud environments.
This approach fits in with Microsoft’s long-stated policy of putting tools where the developers are — and the popularity of the free Visual Studio Code means it is already running on many developers’ desktops. Mixing and matching different extensions from Microsoft and third parties allows what would otherwise be a standard programming editor to become a custom development environment that can host most of a developer’s chosen tool chain, from languages and source code control to management and productivity tools and more.
SQL Server and Azure SQL have been around for a long time, and they benefit from many different development tools and management utilities, from Microsoft and from third parties. This new tooling builds on that heritage, as well as providing a jumping off point for modern technologies, integrating with the GitHub Copilot tools in VS Code.
