That’s an interesting point that I’d not considered. You’re essentially saying “code for code’s sake”, or “writing code in order to achieve a personal rather than industrial objective”, right?
By which I guess we are talking “personal code projects that don’t necessarily serve a commercial end”?
Someone could code for the same reasons a person might make art.
Professional artists don’t always ignore the commercial aspect of their work. But often those projects allow making work that is not driven by commercial concern.
That doesn’t make an artist’s paying work any less art when an artist considers making art the important outcome rather than the made artifacts.
I think craft as process is psychologically different from standards as professional identity.