> Second would stare fixedly at screen for several seconds, whilst remaining still as a statue
That eliminates many of the benefits. Was your coworker relatively new to Vim? Or maybe pondering what change to make, not how to actually make it? This is what I've seen from a coworker who was learning Vim and forcing themselves to learn the "proper" way to do things. I don't consider that to be a bad thing, provided that you balance it with actually getting work done.
I always do whatever allows me to edit the line without or with relatively short pause. That might be efficient vim commands, or it might be sloppy if the line isn't formatted in such a way that it fits my muscle memory. If I'm dissatisfied with the edit and think there might be a better way, I research it after the fact so I can later practice and know for next time.
This comes with experience; I've been using Vim for over a decade. Any pause in my editing is because I'm actually figuring out what change to make, not how to make that change.
They were reasonably experienced, but had an appetite for optimization beyond what most people would consider reasonable. In defense however, the task at hand was creating graphics microcode, so that mindset did pay off.
As you rightly point out - there is a reasonable middle ground.
That eliminates many of the benefits. Was your coworker relatively new to Vim? Or maybe pondering what change to make, not how to actually make it? This is what I've seen from a coworker who was learning Vim and forcing themselves to learn the "proper" way to do things. I don't consider that to be a bad thing, provided that you balance it with actually getting work done.
I always do whatever allows me to edit the line without or with relatively short pause. That might be efficient vim commands, or it might be sloppy if the line isn't formatted in such a way that it fits my muscle memory. If I'm dissatisfied with the edit and think there might be a better way, I research it after the fact so I can later practice and know for next time.
This comes with experience; I've been using Vim for over a decade. Any pause in my editing is because I'm actually figuring out what change to make, not how to make that change.