Hi @dorian63,
I recommend you go with the standalone MCUXpresso IDE.
MCUXpresso for VS Code is a plugin for VS Code that adds the features and capabilities to develop and debug embedded projects for our MCUs and MPUs. It was created by request of our customers that already use a lot of VS Code, but it was launched just last year and is not a full replacement of MCUXpresso IDE just yet. Although quite capable, you will find that the VS Code plugin does not have all of the capabilities of the standalone IDE. The IDE has had years of bugfixes and as well as a larger compilation of documentation and trainings, which can be very useful when starting out. Not only that, but it has full integration with ConfigTools, which provides a much more user-friendly approach to configurating the pins, clocks and modules of your MCU. If using VS Code, the standalone version of Config Tools would have to be installed.
In conclusion, as of now, MCUXpresso for VS Code is a great and very capable tool to program NXP chips in a quick and straight forward manner, which can provide a good integration to the developer's workflow if they already use VS Code. On the other hand, MCUXpresso IDE provides the full developer experience by being much more robust and feature rich, as well as having more extra resources like ample documentation and trainings.
I hope this answers your question.
Welcome to NXP and thank you for choosing us!
BR,
Edwin.
