Visual Studio is the most complete .NET and C++ IDE there is — designers, profilers,
a full solution system, and debugging nothing in a terminal can match. binvim plays a different role:
a cross-platform single-binary terminal editor with native Vim grammar that still
ships real .NET tooling — csharp-ls, netcoredbg debugging,
csharpier, and Razor — at ~42 MB and near-instant startup.
For serious .NET and C++ work on Windows, Visual Studio is in a class of its own. Visual designers for WinForms and WPF, world-class profilers, the deepest C# analysis and refactoring, a complete project and solution system, test explorer, and a graphical debugger no terminal can rival. For large enterprise solutions, game development, or C++ on Windows, it is the right tool, and binvim — a lightweight, vim-native IDE — isn't trying to match that depth.
binvim is the fast, portable option — and notably cross-platform, which matters
since Visual Studio for Mac was retired in 2024. It is a ~42 MB single binary that starts
instantly and runs over SSH, yet still gives you competent .NET editing: the
csharp-ls language server, netcoredbg debugging with conditional and
hit-count breakpoints, an auto-build prelaunch step, a .csproj picker and
launchSettings.json support, csharpier formatting, Razor tree-sitter, and
dotnet test/task runners. For editing and debugging .NET on macOS or Linux, or for a lightweight
terminal workflow on Windows, binvim is a genuine option.
Pick Visual Studio for the full .NET/C++ IDE on Windows — designers, profiling, and the deepest tooling. Pick binvim when you want a fast, cross-platform terminal editor with real .NET support and Vim motions, especially on macOS and Linux. Many .NET developers use both: Visual Studio for heavy work, binvim for quick edits, remote boxes, and anything over SSH.
binvim is a vim-native IDE rather than a heavyweight GUI one, so it won't match Visual Studio's designers, profilers, and depth. But it ships real .NET support: csharp-ls, netcoredbg debugging, csharpier, Razor tree-sitter, and dotnet test/task runners — strong for lightweight .NET work, especially on macOS and Linux.
Yes — binvim runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. With Visual Studio for Mac retired in 2024, binvim is a useful cross-platform terminal option for C#, with csharp-ls and netcoredbg.
binvim debugs .NET via netcoredbg: F-key controls, conditional and hit-count breakpoints, an auto-build prelaunch step, a .csproj picker, and launchSettings.json support. Less deep and visual than Visual Studio, but it covers the common debugging loop from the terminal.
About 42 MB with near-instant startup, versus several GB and tens of seconds to start for Visual Studio. binvim trades depth for footprint and speed.