Re: efficient replacing – really faster compared to using the mouse?

[Raffaele Ricciardi]

When editing with the keyboard, you move around with incremental search. 
 Emacs
allows to select and edit rectangles with the keyboard as well.  Read 
the GNU
Emacs Manual for how to accomplish both tasks.

In your case, one may have chosen as well to use a replacing command.

If you are curious about the fastest way to edit code in general, then 
have a
look at Vim (remapping the Esc key will be the only glitch).  Emacs is more
flexible, but it's more of an editor for either text documents or 
programming
languages for which it has dedicated packages. Albeit it can be tweaked 
to be as
efficient as you want in any context, but then such a task is beyond the 
novice
user.

Neither editor caters to the casual user.  If you wish to use them 
efficiently,
you'll have to commit yourself to read the manuals thoroughly and think 
about
how commands may be composed, and how you can apply such commands in your
everyday editing.  Otherwise, fellows who use "more user-friendly" 
editors will
eat in your plate and laugh in your face.

Happy editing, mate ;-)