What features are available in Azure Data Studio and what are the advantages over SSMS?

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As we said at the beginning of this article, Azure Data Studio is a database tool that allows easy, intuitive and efficient information management. This is because it facilitates user interaction with all data instances, both in a local legacy database and in the cloud.

The platform also provides a SQL coding experience and integration with IntelliSense—which is why Azure Data Studio was previously known as SQL Operations Studio. With it, data, code snippets, and navigation features can be controlled through GIT—an open-source project from the same creator of the Linux operating system.

Compared to SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio) for database administration, security management, and information query, this is not an ideal GUI tool. On the contrary, in some aspects, Azure Data Studio has superior performance.

For example, the main benefit of Azure Data Studio is its cross-platform nature, as it supports use on platforms other than the Windows operating system—macOS and Linux.

In addition to that, it is versatile beyond being integrable with SQL Server 2014 and later versions, it can also be adapted for PostgreSQL servers and, of course, Azure products such as Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse and Azure SQL Managed Instance.

Azure Data Studio is not designed to replace SSMS. While the tools have similar functionality, Azure Data Studio is more lightweight and versatile. Cross-platform support also gives users more flexibility, plus it is designed to be easy to use regardless of the developer's skill level, requiring a shorter learning curve compared to SSMS.

Microsoft recommends using Azure Data Studio over SSMS if users need to edit and run queries against databases, quickly plot or preview query results, connect to and query a SQL Server 2019 Big Data cluster, and more.

On the other hand, SSMS should be used by DBAs and other IT professionals who spend most of their time on database administration tasks, including configuration and security management, and for that they need to use dashboards and performance tuning tools.

However, Azure Data Studio has the following features:

creation of smart code segments, both for making test database copies and for the development and execution of other scenarios;
navigation options that make code management easier;
options to create and execute SQL queries;
results analysis options;
export compatible with TXT, JSON and Excel formats;
edit data, manage database connections, and visualize information;
using notepad and creating scripts in SQL, Spark, Python and Scala;
Advanced query editing integrated with IntelliSense — simplifies code entry tasks with auto-completion and many other automated operations for code verification and formatting, increasing process speed and accuracy;
SQL code snippets, which help you use the correct syntax;
update database objects;
source code control, through an integrated Git Source Manager (SCM) that allows you to store database scripts, compare versions, commit changes and revert them;
Custom insights and dashboards that help you seamlessly access statistics and other information for data analysis and troubleshooting ;
direct verification of object definitions in the database;
quick view of query results;
Dark theme for users who prefer dimly lit interfaces while working.
The Transact-SQL editor, one of the features built united kingdom phone number list into the Azure Data Studio package, offers the following options:

searching for database objects;
perform common tasks for database objects;
edit table data;
code snippets to write T-SQL quickly;
Viewing details in the database with Peek Definition or Go to Definition;
information search and replacement;
hiding code snippets;
copying lines;
moving lines of code;
simultaneous editing of multiple lines;
alteration of font types and sizes;
use of color themes for customization;
adding line numbers and comments.
In short, Azure Data Studio is the best choice for users who need more flexibility regarding operating systems and the ease of editing and running queries and executing processes.

But as a developer, you can choose to identify the strengths and weaknesses of both tools.