Theory

VS Code (Visual Studio Code) and PyCharm are generally accepted as two of the most popular IDEs for Python development.

VS Code is a lightweight and totally customizable code editor developed by Microsoft. It supports various programming languages and provides features like IntelliSense (for code completion), debugging, and a huge marketplace for extensions. While VS Code is not a full IDE per se, it can have quite a few plugins to make it a suitable development environment for Python. Vs code

PyCharm is an IDE developed by JetBrains and focuses mainly on Python programming only. It has some powerful tools, like intelligent code completion, debugging, and built-in support for virtual environments. It comes in two editions: Community (free) and Professional (paid). The Professional edition has some advanced features not found in the Community edition. For example, database integration and web development tools. VS Code would always be lightweight and flexible, whereas PyCharm would be more heavily loaded with so many features meant for professional Python development. The choice would depend on the requirements of the project as well as the strengths of the user.