Avoid BDF editor like the plague

Not really. I say use the tools you feel comfortable with.

It's just that in my opinion it feels easier to use at the beginning, but as your design gets more complicated it resembles more and more like a plate of spaghetti and becomes near to impossible to debug properly. If you find reading someone else's code difficult, try to read someone else's design entirely done with the graphical editor, spread over 4-5 A3 sheets... real life experience! :shock:

And after 2/3 times of SOPC Builder / QSys messing your symbol completely even for a tiny change, you will be cured and will use HDL, like everyone else ;)