I agree. It's good to know a name of an algorithm/data structure, and rough characteristics (like bloom filter: O(1) lookup, super memory compact, statistical,

I agree. It's good to know a name of an algorithm/data structure, and rough characteristics (like bloom filter: O(1) lookup, super memory compact, statistical, can have false positives, no false negatives; perfect for caching lookups in "forbidden" lists). There's not much point though in knowning the minutiae to the level that you can code one on the whiteboard without prior preparation -- which is probably the main point that the article relates to.