Why would it be pointless then? Those are orthogonal concerns.

Whether you constantly show or auto-hide the dock, it still has to be somewhere. So if you prefer to have it on the side (meaning it also auto-shows when you move your mouse to the side) as opposed to the bottom, it makes absolute sense to move it to the side.

I find I'm much less likely to automatically trigger it on the left than on the bottom. And, muscle memory for on desktop/larger screens where it is not hidden.

changing what cursor actions prompt it to stop hiding