Would you grind for diamonds, strip mining, knocking down stone over and over again, in hopes to strike gold or some valuable ore?
The most boring and tedious way to play.
Or would you craft your weapons, find the portal, and defeat the ender dragon as quickly as possible? The most fun and adventurous way to play.
I choose the adventure. I play to slay the boss in battle. Then I’d just build a really nice glass cube house on top of the extreme hill biome, make a farm, and continue slaying the zombies underground.