Some of the cam advice may be left over from the old days. Slower processors and early code didn't play as well with a big cam. Rapid intake pressure spikes would trigger acceleration enrichment and rapid timing changes, rich exhaust would drive short term and long term fuel toward the lean extreme, engine speed would start hunting, and it would create a cycle that was really tough to control. Today's controllers are so advanced that it's a very different game.

A properly tuned ecm does a great job of eliminating all sorts of compromises we had to make with carburetors. Increasing idle speed, advancing timing at idle, running a loose converter so the car didn't surge at a stop light, stinking rich exhaust are much less common these days. Can you make the system behave like a carbureted engine? Sure. If you're comfortable with carbureted engine behavior by all means, install a computer and tune it to do the same job.

You mentioned what all you could do. What can I, an EFI newbie, accomplish??
More than anything, the answer depends on your patience and your expectations for engine behavior. I think you could probably dial in many of the spark and fuel settings rather quickly and make it so you can drive it without blowing up the engine. What usually takes time is driveability around town, start up, and idle. That process usually requires multiple drives, datalogging, change calibration, and drive more.