x64 VSCode for Windows

[rongjiecomputer]

• VSCode Version: 1.12.2
• OS Version: Windows 10 x64

Can we have 64-bits version of VSCode?

Reasons:

• Chrome and Node.js depend on V8 which has a JIT compiler. 32-bits version of V8 can only generate ia32 native code. 64-bits version of V8 can generate faster SIMD native code and not all of it is available in 32-bits (like AVX1 and AVX2). Since VSCode spends quite a large portion of time running JS code, there will a performance win to use x64 JIT compiler.
• In order to improve stability, performance, and security, Chrome automatically migrates to 64-bits Chrome for 64-bits OS users with more than 4GB RAM but use 32-bits Chrome. VSCode is unlikely to be attacked, but who can refuse more security and stability? Reference
• Atom editor provides both 32-bits and 64-bits executable for Windows.

Experiment:

• Download prebuilt electron-v1.7.0-win32-x64 and place it under C:\electron.
• Copy C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app to C:\electron\resources\app
• Launch C:\electron\electron.exe.

It did launch the outer UI of VSCode, it even picked up the editor theme of my original VSCode, but no content was shown.

I opened the developer tool and found the bug: some node.js modules are native addons built as 32-bits .node (.dll) which is not compatible with 64-bits program. This can be configured in node-gyp to build 64-bits binaries.

What is the main concern not doing this?

[yfdyh000]

Duplicate of #507.

[egamma]

Closing as duplicate and it is already on the plan, pls #26068