[gsylvie]

I think there's more algebra in frontend development. For example: CSS or SVG gradients, JavaScript animations and fades, the occasional clever data visualization. Heck, even the CSS box model?

Backend or frontend, if you use any quantitative metrics in your year-end performance evals, then some algebra is going to be helpful!

And you never know what will come up. I was once contracted by a regional government to write some code to correct hourly sensor readings (water levels in wells) based on a monthly manual human reading (ground truth). When it was done my boss remarked, "oh, this is just a linear transformation."

[JamesBarney]

But remember, has a non-zero usefulness is a very very different benchmark from a good use of your time to study and learn.