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Because it’s enjoyable to build things. It’s like solving a puzzle or riddle: there’s no purpose other than the experience of solving it.

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Why not solve a real world puzzle then? To me, it's kind of like deliberately spilling a bag of sand on the floor, then toiling by picking up each grain with tweezers. Sure, it is difficult, and nobody can deny the work that you did, but you also created the work and the constraints yourself.

I think I just don't "get it" and my pov is probably colored by frustrating interactions that I have at work where people do the similar things in code shared by others, to (seemingly) demonstrate "their skills."

Given the wild popularity of Advent of Code, I think it's safe to say that many people have different priorities.

Advent of Code is different, unless one of the requirements is you make your solution as obfuscated and esoteric as possible, which is rarely in a code challenge (the IOCCC being an exception). In Advent of Code, you're still trying to solve problems efficiently.

> I think I just don't "get it" ...

Maybe that's simply the way it is, maybe you'll just never understand why other people do for pleasure things that you see no point in.

Sometimes it's just fun for them.

I occasionally ride a unicycle and juggle, just for my own satisfaction.

Do you do anything for fun?

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