14 DAY TRIAL // Node.js Tools for Visual Studio is a powerful VS extension that allows developers to write their Node applications using Microsoft's famous IDE.
Node.js Tools for Visual Studio, or just NTVS, was launched in March 2014 with an initial Alpha version, being greeted at the time of its launch with high praises from both the Microsoft and Node.js communities.
At Microsoft's BUILD 2015 developers conference, the product reached its first stable version and was announced together with Visual Studio Code, a free version of Visual Studio that can work on all three major operating systems, Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Currently, NTVS works with the Visual Studio 2012 and 2013, and it also supports the Visual Studio Community, Visual Studio Express for Web, and Visual Studio Professional editions. The latest NTVS beta version also comes with Visual Studio 2015 RC support.
Node.js Tools for Visual Studio is fully integrated with the Node environment
Besides Node.js, io.js is also supported, along with integration with some of Node and Visual Studio's most beloved features.
This includes project starter kits for quickly getting started with a basic app template, IntelliSense integration for advanced, smart auto-complete features, code profiling for easier debugging, and integration with various testing frameworks, for automatically discovering and executing unit tests.
There are also TypeScript and npm built-in support, integration with Git and cloud hosting services, proper syntax highlighting, and an interactive (REPL) window.
Lately, Microsoft has been one of Node's main supporters, helping Joyent create The Node.js Foundation, an organization similar to the Linux and Apache foundations, tasked with overseeing and accelerating the development of future Node.js releases and some of its core modules.
The extension is open sourced and available for download, in our Windows section or from GitHub.
Below is a video from Microsoft, where Sara Itani, one of the developers who worked on Node.js Tools for Visual Studio, shows us what the extension is capable of.
