Why are there so many persons saying it's better to build something specific and be creative than to learn to code? That we should learn to code as a mean for s

Why are there so many persons saying it's better to build something specific and be creative than to learn to code? That we should learn to code as a mean for something? I enjoyed coding that AVL tree class last week, just for the sake of it. I like solving Project Euler's problems and bash my head for hours on really complex problems. I don't have to aim for something bigger to enjoy coding and I don't understand why so many people claim the opposite. When it gets to the trivial parts of a project, I just get bored and never finish them.