[clarry]

> I'm saying you should be able to explain the basic principles of e.g. an array, a linked list, a hash table and a binary tree, and where each would be appropriate to use.

I think most of us agree with that. But that's beside the point, because that's not the algorithm-heavy interview people are complaining about big time.

[seanwilson]

It depends what you're describing as algorithm heavy. Do you have any examples?

I've seen people arguing you shouldn't have to know how a linked list, hash table or binary tree work. I think every programmer should know these ones. I think having to describe how quicksort works is getting too much, but knowing e.g. some search tree and graph algorithms might be appropriate depending on your domain.