You can literally draw things using only the command line and can specify exact points.
It's vector-based rather than raster-based. It's worthwhile to learn if you're going to use it a lot. It's a very powerful tool and it sounds like a lot of professional cartographers use it along with Photoshop to produce their maps. To put this in perspective, this is like going from using a web-based, templated website builder to using a product like Adobe Dreamweaver, where you need to know what you're doing in order to produce much of anything. As such, CC3+ also has a steep learning curve if you're not familiar with using CAD applications. There's a full-fledged professional CAD application at the heart of CC3+, that's why you're seeing the "quirks" that you are.