Microsoft allows its own special APIs to be used in Visual Studio Code extensions

Microsoft's text editor 'Visual Studio Code' has an extension marketplace, where users can easily install various extensions. A Reddit post pointed out that only Microsoft extensions can use special APIs on the marketplace.

Microsoft is introducing hidden APIs to VS Code only enabled for Copilot extension : r/ChatGPTCoding

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTCoding/comments/1g8xrub/microsoft_is_introducing_hidden_apis_to_vs_code/

Visual Studio Code is a text editor primarily used for programming purposes. Since its release in 2015, it has continued to grow in popularity and is even considered the 'final point of the evolution of text editors.'

Visual Studio Code is unifying the world of text editors during the Warring States period - GIGAZINE

Visual Studio Code allows you to enhance its features in the form of extensions. Extensions use various APIs provided by Visual Studio Code to access the data they need.

When Visual Studio Code develops a new API, it first provides it in the form of a ' Proposed API '. A Proposed API is a 'trial' API that extension developers can use to test its operation and find improvements and bugs. Because it is only a 'trial' API, extensions using the Proposed API cannot be listed on the Marketplace.

However, it was discovered that the GitHub Copilot Chat extension, created by Microsoft and published on the marketplace, was using a large number of Proposed APIs. 'This is an anti-competitive tactic,' a Reddit post read.

Comments on Reddit pointed out that Microsoft is aiming to monopolize the programming environment. It has acquired GitHub and deepened its collaboration with Visual Studio Code, becoming the de facto standard for most development teams, and has also acquired shares in OpenAI, which has revolutionized the way code is written. In this context, it has been analyzed that Microsoft is aiming to monopolize the market by excluding competitors by providing extensions with APIs that only Microsoft can use.

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