Have you already done some tutorials for Unity? Sometimes diving right in seems like a lot of fun, but you will not likely land square on your feet. 
I would suggest doing some simple tutorials that deal with movement and/or rotation.
This section (and subsections) are helpful: Learn
As you noted, you can rotate in an immediate way or a gradual way, and it certainly helps to know how you can do either, for when you need it. You don’t even require a proper (animated) character to try any of this, as the concept will be the same.
The same is true about movement, and positioning; there are a number of ways to move instantly, and over time… with transforms, and a rigidbody (physics).
Hope that’s a little bit helpful.
Also, if you have a specific question about some code that you’re using/trying, feel free to post that along with your question so you can get some insight. If you decide to post some code, please take a moment to read this thread to see how to do so nicely on the forums: Using code tags properly