I was using Unity very many years ago, I believe at least 5 years ago last time. < With this in mind, prepare yourself because I do feel very out of the loop for not having been around for so long.
At that time (5+ years ago), I think the version of Unity was 4 or maybe 3 or maybe 5, I honestly don’t remember anymore.
What I do remember however is that we all were writing code (C#) within the Unity Editor itself.
Now when I install recent Unity versions (2019, 2022 etc) it seems like there is no longer a code editor within Unity itself. Is this true, or did I miss something? I’m trying to open C# from a Unity project but it just wants to open those files on VSCode… is that really optimal, I mean this is supposed to be an IDE right?
Not sure about being ‘optimal’, but your best free option is Visual Studio, or even visual studio code. I would recommend the first option. Ther are also pay options, such as Script Inspector 3, which you can purchase in the asset store for $39.00. I have seen great reviews, but have never tried it myself.
Unity never had an integrated code editor. It used to ship with some text editor based on Smultron called Unitron (some 10 years ago), then MonoDevelop later.
What you’re looking for is an asset called Script Inspector 3. It lets you code right within Unity, no external tools required. I use it daily for all my Unity coding; it is speedy, full-featured, and a joy to use. I can’t exaggerate how much I love this asset.