I can write regex to replace variable names in a matter of seconds despite not needing to do it very often
You can write a regex to replace a string in a matter of seconds. And so can I. What neither of us can do is write it such that the replacement is limited to the identifier we want to rename (because pumping lemma), that needs syntax if not semantics-aware editing and that’s exactly what LSP is for.
You’re using a screwdriver as a hammer. Does it work, sure, is it advisable? Even if you don’t have a hammer it might be easier and quicker to drive to the hardware store and buy one, depending on the particular nail you’re dealing with.
Meanwhile in IntelliJ or VSCode I just find the menu and if I want to be super quick, next to the menu item is the keyboard shortcut
Helix: <space>? opens function search, enter “rename”, “rename symbol” will be the first hit and it’ll also tell you that it’s bound to <space>r.
Blender: F3 instead of <space>r. Get out of here with clicking through menus. I have no idea where to find recalculate normals in the menus and I don’t care. “face” in edit mode, probably. Nope, just checked: Edit mode, mesh->normals->recalculate [inside, outside]. Kinda makes sense while normals are a property of faces you can’t calculate them without reference to a mesh as you wouldn’t be able to tell outside from inside, only stuff like “face camera”.
This isn’t so much about gui or not gui thing, both IntelliJ and VSCode come from the windows school of GUI design which says “discoverable without a manual, hotkeys are available for power users”. Blender, OTOH, follows the UNIX philosophy of “RTFM, start working like a pro from the beginning it’s worth it, the interface is just a suggestion, adjust it to your workflow”.
Maybe I could eventually even get faster, but could I ever recoup that time investment?
How would you know without giving them an honest spin? Personally I wouldn’t recommend vim, btw, lots of hysterical raisins and inconsistencies to be found there and configuration is a PITA which wouldn’t even be that bad if the out of the box experience was good. Helix cleans up both the command language and the whole configuration shebang (just make sure that LSP servers are installed and you’re good to go) while definitely sticking to the vi/blender style of interface design.