What's the difference between rm and empty trash? If I put a file in the trash and "empty trash", is that the same as doing rm file?

I understand that there are questions here asking about (e.g. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]), but no answer directly pertains to the difference in process (if there is one).
Yes, rm removes the file as does moving it to trash and then emptying the trash. One nice thing about moving files to Trash is that it gives you a little longer to decide if you really want to delete them. rm will remove immediately.