How to edit blocks in vim without visual block mode

Question

Is there a way to edit a vertical block in a code without using the visual block mode selection?

Answer 1

What's so bad about blockwise visual mode?! There's no practical alternative to it.

• You could use :substitute with atoms like \%>v, \%, \%>l and \% to limit the pattern match to a rectangular block, but that's very tedious.
• There are some multi-edit plugins (inspired by other editors) that allow you to select some areas, and then simultaneously edit them all.
• For special purposes, you could write a scriptlet / mapping with getline() / setline() and String manipulation in Vimscript.