Yes, if you're learning arbitrary lists of items such foreign language vocabulary, or a medical student memorizing the Latin naming for all the various bones of

Yes, if you're learning arbitrary lists of items such foreign language vocabulary, or a medical student memorizing the Latin naming for all the various bones of a human body then spaced repetition is what to use. I've just never had an analogous situation in programming. That's the easiest and most known use case of anki, but hardly the only things suitable. In any case, memorization is always made easier if you understand a concept, and yes you can ask conceptual questions in anki. For example of a conceptual question: Q: What is the purpose of an aileron? A: To control the roll of an aircraft. Then you ask the question: Q: The roll of an airplane is on what axis? A: longitudinal axis. Or maybe this prompt? Q: What component controls the roll of an aircraft? A: The aileron. Then you can continue to ask question like what forces limit the speed of an airplane, or what makes it fall, or what control surface do you need to use if you want to increase elevation of an airplane, and so forth.