“What I cannot create, I do not understand” - Feynman
Building toy programs are a way to reconnect with the fundamental joy of creation and problem solving in a time of AI and post-optimization. The insights gained from building them can also prove valuable in professional work.
Some will tell you to avoid reinventing the wheel, but they’re wrong: you should build your own wheel, because it’ll teach you more about how they work than reading a thousand books on them ever will.
See also: Taste, Tiny Experiments