Comment by dgacmu

The thing that gets me is the assumption that we're not complex creatures who might each value different things at different times and in different contexts.

As for me, sometimes I code because I want something to do a specific thing, and I honestly couldn't be bothered to care how it happens.

Sometimes I code because I want something to work a very specific way or to learn how to make something work better, and I want to have my brain so deep in a chunk of code I can see it in my sleep.

Sometimes the creative expression is in the 'what' - one of my little startup tasks these days is experimenting with UI designs for helping a human get a task done as efficiently as possible. Sometimes it's in the 'how' - implementing the backend to that thing to be ridiculously fast and efficient. Sometimes it's both and sometimes it's neither!

A beautiful thing about code is that it can be a tool and it can be an expressive medium that scratches our urge to create and dive into things, or it can be both at the same time. Code is the most flexible substance on earth, for good and for creating incredible messes.