[cercatrova]

> There is no inherent pleasure in the process itself.

Speak for yourself. I find pleasure in writing code inherently, playing around with different languages, data structures and algorithms that may not have any definite end goal in mind.

[Nevermark]

Me too for very different but similar reasons.

I tend to take my time adding code, anything from a few lines an hour to a few lines a month. So the moments where I do are like adding a few careful brush strokes to a painting and seeing its character change immediately.

In between, I read about things related to my problem, I think on walks, waking up and going to sleep, and during more active times I have worked on a problem in my dreams all night.

The mornings after "dream work" always feel magical. I realize how repetitive and grindy dreams are. Seems that my mind goes over the exact same ground dozens of times, without any normal daytime fatigue, then figures something out like finally seeing a gem after scraping away meters of rock.

[aristofun]

From the sound of it you find pleasure in exploring something new (dopamine kind of pleasure).

Whould you enjoy writing code with same language, same data structures & algorithms for a long period of time?

If not => you don’t really enjoy coding itself.