50 Years of Microsoft and Developer Tools with Scott Guthrie

Key takeaways

Microsoft’s 2014 decisions to open source .NET, introduce a Community Edition of Visual Studio, and develop VS Code transformed its developer engagement.
The history of Microsoft’s development tools illustrates a shift from exclusionary practices to an inclusive ecosystem, encouraging contributions from a wider developer community.
Windows Phone’s downfall demonstrates the importance of market timing and the need for a seamless integration of tools across different platforms.
Azure's growth from a late market entrant to a leading cloud provider exemplifies the potential for rapid evolution through listening to developers and adapting the product.
Embracing open source was a significant cultural shift for Microsoft, paving the way for its acquisition of GitHub and deeper integration with the developer community.
The future of development tools lies in AI's potential to enhance developer productivity, allowing engineers to focus on higher-level problem-solving.

Summary

The Bold Moves of 2014

In 2014, Microsoft made significant shifts to re-establish its relevance among developers. Three bold decisions were made in a series of meetings: first, the introduction of a Community Edition of Visual Studio to make it accessible for small projects and independent developers; second, the decision to open source .NET and make it cross-platform, inviting community contributions; and third, the development of Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a lightweight web-based code editor designed for modern developers. These decisions were part of a strategic effort to enhance developer engagement and adapt to changing industry trends.

A Retrospective on Microsoft’s Developer Tools

Reflecting on the evolution of Microsoft's developer tools over the decades, Scott Guthrie recounts the early years when the company focused on creating development tools like Microsoft Basic. The conversation touches on key products like Visual Basic and C#, explaining their significance in democratizing programming for non-technical users, while also discussing the legacy of tools like MSDN, which provided invaluable documentation at a time when resources were scarce.

The Rise and Fall of Windows Phone

Scott reflects on the mixed journey of Windows Phone, identifying reasons for its lack of success despite a strong development experience. Key points include timing issues with the emergence of competitors like Android, and struggles to attract developers since the development experience was not fully integrated for users on Mac. Lessons learned highlight the importance of being quick to market and the necessity for strong developer relations.

Azure’s Evolution towards Cloud Dominance

Discussing the inception of Azure, Scott talks about the challenges it faced as it launched with many usability issues. After joining the Azure team, the focus shifted to supporting open source, improving documentation, and accessibility for developers. By rebranding and positioning Azure as the preferred platform for hybrid cloud solutions, Microsoft was able to achieve a significant jump in market share and overcome early setbacks.

Open Source Strategy and Acquisition of GitHub

Scott describes Microsoft's changing attitude towards open source, beginning with initial hesitance and leading to significant steps forward, such as the open sourcing of .NET and the creation of Codeplex. This embrace of open source set the stage for the eventual acquisition of GitHub, which was fueled by Microsoft’s efforts to engage with the developer community and establish credibility as an open and collaborative platform.

The Future of Development Tools and AI

Towards the end of the podcast, Scott shares his excitement about the future of development tools and the role AI will play in enhancing developer productivity. He discusses the potential for AI-driven tools that would act as collaborators rather than mere assistants, reshaping how engineering teams approach problem-solving, deployment, and user experience.

Show notes

Supported by Our Partners

•⁠ Statsig ⁠ — ⁠ The unified platform for flags, analytics, experiments, and more.

•⁠ Sinch⁠ — Connect with customers at every step of their journey.

•⁠ Modal⁠ — The cloud platform for building AI applications.

—

How has Microsoft changed since its founding in 1975, especially in how it builds tools for developers?

In this episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, I sit down with Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President of Cloud and AI at Microsoft. Scott has been with the company for 28 years. He built the first prototype of ASP.NET, led the Windows Phone team, led up Azure, and helped shape many of Microsoft’s most important developer platforms.

We talk about Microsoft’s journey from building early dev tools to becoming a top cloud provider—and how it actively worked to win back and grow its developer base.

In this episode, we cover:

• Microsoft’s early years building developer tools

• Why Visual Basic faced resistance from devs back in the day: even though it simplified development at the time

• How .NET helped bring a new generation of server-side developers into Microsoft’s ecosystem

• Why Windows Phone didn’t succeed

• The 90s Microsoft dev stack: docs, debuggers, and more

• How Microsoft Azure went from being the #7 cloud provider to the #2 spot today

• Why Microsoft created VS Code

• How VS Code and open source led to the acquisition of GitHub

• What Scott’s excited about in the future of developer tools and AI

• And much more!

—

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:25) Microsoft’s early years building developer tools

(06:15) How Microsoft’s developer tools helped Windows succeed

(08:00) Microsoft’s first tools were built to allow less technically savvy people to build things

(11:00) A case for embracing the technology that’s coming

(14:11) Why Microsoft built Visual Studio and .NET

(19:54) Steve Ballmer’s speech about .NET

(22:04) The origins of C# and Anders Hejlsberg’s impact on Microsoft

(25:29) The 90’s Microsoft stack, including documentation, debuggers, and more

(30:17) How productivity has changed over the past 10 years

(32:50) Why Gergely was a fan of Windows Phone—and Scott’s thoughts on why it didn’t last

(36:43) Lessons from working on (and fixing) Azure under Satya Nadella

(42:50) Codeplex and the acquisition of GitHub

(48:52) 2014: Three bold projects to win the hearts of developers

(55:40) What Scott’s excited about in new developer tools and cloud computing

(59:50) Why Scott thinks AI will enhance productivity but create more engineering jobs

—

The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this episode:

• Microsoft is dogfooding AI dev tools’ future

• Microsoft’s developer tools roots

• Why are Cloud Development Environments spiking in popularity, now?

• Engineering career paths at Big Tech and scaleups

• How Linux is built with Greg Kroah-Hartman

—

See the transcript and other references from the episode at ⁠⁠https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/podcast⁠⁠

—

Production and marketing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://penname.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@pragmaticengineer.com.

Get full access to The Pragmatic Engineer at newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/subscribe