Hey @User3 , I am actually a beginner at python nodes for civil 3d too (not a beginner with python).
I do not write the code in visual studio. I only write it in the python node its self. Some swear by coding in an external IDE and copying it over. I tried this but didn’t find it helpful. While you can import the .dlls into an external IDE you cannot hook into an active instance of civil 3d and therefore cannot really run any code. I tried to get this to work for jupyter notebooks but was unable to: Coding Python Nodes for Dynamo for Civil 3D in an External IDE
I think it’s possible but i think id have to learn a lot more to figure it out.
I agree with you that an external ide would be amazing to use for beginners. I find that testing code line by line or portion by portion and seeing outputs along each step in jupyter notebook is the easiest way for me to code. But without being able to run the code this value is lost. When im coding in a python node i find myself running the node constantly because im always crashing civil 3d and by doing that i isolate the issue easier. So i stick with the base node.