Create SharePoint solutions
You can create SharePoint applications in Visual Studio as an alternative to creating them in SharePoint Designer. Visual Studio promotes rapid SharePoint development by providing such features as advanced debugging tools, IntelliSense, statement completion, and project templates. Visual Studio also takes advantage of advanced .NET Framework-based tools and languages. You can develop SharePoint projects by using either Visual Basic or Visual C#, and you can develop app for SharePoint projects by using JavaScript.
Note
Find out how to use the new SharePoint add-in model to extend the SharePoint experience for your users. These add-ins have very small footprints compared to SharePoint solutions, and you can build them by using almost any web programming technology such as HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3, and XML.