I'm soon to begin constructing a ground level (i.e. 14" above ground) cedar
deck off the back of my house, and so right now I'm in the process of
determining all that I will need to purchase before I begin, including a few
new power tools. For example, the circular saw I have is okay for
occasional use but I dread using it for a whole project, so I want to buy
myself a considerably better one. Now, aside from value-per-price
considerations, what should I look for in shopping for a very-good to high
quality circular saw? And in particular, what should I make of "worm-drive"
versus the more common, "side-winder", type saws?

A couple of acquaintances of mine praise their worm-drives as being
inherently superior in every way to the ordinary (i.e. side-winder) type.
But I've noticed that these worm-drive saws are comparatively heavier (which
might not be ergonominally advantageous, I don't know). And the position of
the handles on these saws just looks (to my minds eye, at least) to be
awkward to handle and perhaps not intended for close, precision or finishing
work.

Of course, since I haven't actually ever used a worm-drive saw, my untested
perceptions of it don't necessarily mean a thing. Hence, I'm posting this
message in the hopes someone might 'enlighten' me in this before I come to a
decision what to buy. Thanks in advance...

Ken