[cyberprunes]

If you understand data structures and algorithms then, in my view, it demonstrates that 1. You recognize the importance of understanding the principles and foundations of your field. 2. You understand that knowing the fundamentals isn't about "writing algorithms everyday", it's about growing your ability to think deeply and creatively about a problem without constantly flailing around in ignorance.

I often hear that learning algorithms / data structures is pointless these days because it encourages reinventing the wheel or it wastes time. I believe the opposite is true. People who are ignorant will keep reinventing the wheel, they just won't realize they are doing it and how poorly they are doing it.

Learning algorithms and data structures will enhance your ability to write software because you will have a deeper understanding of how things work. When you understand how things work you can build interesting things.

Of course, if you just want to be a non-contributing faceless code monkey at a corporation where you don't matter and get a decent paycheck well, you probably can skate by in mediocrity. If you want to be able to build things that don't rely entirely on the work of others that actually understood what they were doing then you need to put in the time. The return on that investment lasts a lifetime.