If I know the first letter or two of the command, then it’s only 3 keystrokes away. For example, “Evaluate Math Expression” is “cmd+shift+p”+”ev”+”enter”. The command palette also provides great additional explorability with the fuzzy searchable menu + descriptions.
This is a far superior workflow because I have access to every possible command in the editor / installed extensions (very easily mapped to my own shortcuts of I want) without the need to memorize anything. I can even reverse-search commands by typing the shortcut and it will tell me the commands bound to that shortcut.
I could be missing something, but Vim and family feels like a huge step backwards in workflow for me.
Similar deal for me in Emacs, especially with things like ivy or helm. Pretty much anything more complex than an existing keystroke is a simple M(eta)-x and a couple letters (and spaces for wildcards). My setup even extends that to search results, opening files, you name it.
Something like Vim or Helix could probably get most of the way there by defaulting to "insert" mode and having some keystroke like Esc or M-x to temporarily switch into a "command" mode.
Be careful though, just because you are used to doing something in a specific way, doesn't mean that your way of doing it is superior!
Yes, for our specific tastes. We're well aware that people have different tastes and might prefer Vim's or Helix's workflow; you can spare us the lecture.