> It also helps if you use a large knife with a curved blade, so that you can rock it along its length. This is great for quickly dicing veg into really tiny pieces (grain of rice size).

IMO: If you're going that small, get a food processor.

Food processors are very useful in a number of recipes: homemade cuts of ground beef (ever try Rib-eye burgers?), breadcrumbs, casserole?

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Similarly, if you're julienne (aka: french cut) a lot, consider a mandoline slicer. A knife can be used, but dedicated tools are faster and more efficient.

The knife is the general purpose cutter. But there are many other cutting tools that are better at making certain shapes.

I use knives or food processors but the knife is sometimes faster (IMO) because there is less equipment to find / wash. I would almost always use a processor for breadcrumbs but an onion that I wanted to dice - I'd just use the knife.

Eh, for some veg that you slice that thin you probably want a knife to preserve shape. Thinly sliced scallions come to mind.

Knives with straight edges work well too, it’s just that the techniques are completely different. If you are used to using a curved knife, the straight knife will seem clumsy and slow, but it’s not.

I would recommend a (curved) chef's knife for most people, though.