I guess it depends on the distance. If you are currently typing and need to get to the beginning of the word, obviously it's way faster to navigate using the keyboard than the mouse.
If instead you need to navigate somewhere you don't exactly know the location of, scanning and clicking is faster.
Then again, if you happen to know the exact location, going there by command is much faster
Selecting text is also a good example where the mouse is faster. One of the few for me. Having to switch modes, move to a line, then move to a character, then repeat that, is quite cumbersome in comparison.
I'll take good keyboard controls for pretty much anything else though.
With Vim and Emacs, you have nice commands for getting to an exact position. And if you're replacing, you don't need selections. Selection is mostly for copying, cutting, and applying commands.
> If instead you need to navigate somewhere you don't exactly know the location of, scanning and clicking is faster.
Search is better especially with code. I used emacs and vim more than other editors, so I got use to their navigation shortcut. And on macOS, the trackpad is nice and convenient. But I still prefer search and paging shortcuts when I need to scroll.
If instead you need to navigate somewhere you don't exactly know the location of, scanning and clicking is faster.
Then again, if you happen to know the exact location, going there by command is much faster