Is Minecraft (PC) Controller-Friendly?
Solution 1:
There is no built-in controller support on the PC version of Minecraft. You will need something like Xpadder to change each controller input to a keyboard/mouse input in order to use a controller.
Solution 2:
The Bedrock Edition of Minecraft (formerly known as "Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition") supports multiple control schemes, including controllers and touchscreens. Just connect the controller to your PC and play.
Keep in mind that this version of Minecraft is not currently available on macOS (although the iOS/iPadOS version may be playable on Macs with M1 chip, starting with the late 2020 MacBook Air) or Linux, and has some differences compared to the Java version (aka. "Minecraft: Java Edition"). It is possible to convert Java worlds into Bedrock worlds, but this is not officially supported. Do it at your own risk.
Solution 3:
With a mod, yes. You can use the Minecraft Joypad/Split Screen Mod for actual analog movement (not just eight directions like with XPadder) and UI modifications for the controller (instead of only using an analog stick to emulate a mouse). It also creates the possibility of playing split screen with a friend (but you can use it just to play full screen single-player with a controller): http://retro-hack.blogspot.com/p/minecraft-joypad-mod.html