Most of my fifty working years were spent working with wood, mostly in residential construction but a fair amount of different furniture. Only nailing furniture together is a waste of time unless you're never going to move it.
Good quality wood glue and screws are the way to go. After WW2 when drywall became plentiful galvanized nail were the way to go till the Philips head black drywall screws came on the market. If you're making your own furniture, such as dressers, bookshelves, room dividers, or cupboards, then drywall screws are hard to beat. They come in various lengths, and the most important feature, they are the same diameter throughout their length, and so they seldom split the wood. If the wood is hard, pre-bore with about a 3/32 bit. With soft wood, such as pine you won't have to.
One more trick: fifty years ago hanging doors were done using a chisel, hammer, and screwdriver. The door jambs were kiln dried fir or hemlock, harder than the hobs of h, and even pre-boring the screws, they were still hard to drive.
But running the screw lightly through your hair will make it go easier. A little girl, about five was watching me hang a door. By about the time I ran the tenth screw through my hair she said, “Gee Mister, your head must be itchy.”
