I feel like this comment perfectly captures the difference between programming and coding.
Programming comes from a place of first principles, the goal being to understand what is needed completely so that a solution that meets many parallel constraints can be constructed.
Coding comes from a place of completing a task, the goal being to get from the requirement to the operating task in as short a time as possible so that one might move on to the next task.
Both disciplines have value. The original question was unclear about where the author hoped to end up.
To put this in a slightly different perspective, a graphics programmer can write a program to show a shaded object on any platform with a CPU and a way to display graphics. A graphics coder can write a program to show a shaded object only on those platforms where they have previously mastered the APIs for generating display graphics.
Programming comes from a place of first principles, the goal being to understand what is needed completely so that a solution that meets many parallel constraints can be constructed.
Coding comes from a place of completing a task, the goal being to get from the requirement to the operating task in as short a time as possible so that one might move on to the next task.
Both disciplines have value. The original question was unclear about where the author hoped to end up.
To put this in a slightly different perspective, a graphics programmer can write a program to show a shaded object on any platform with a CPU and a way to display graphics. A graphics coder can write a program to show a shaded object only on those platforms where they have previously mastered the APIs for generating display graphics.