In my mind this is the only answer (at my time of reading this thread) that hits the nail on the head. Algorithms and Data Structures is something you learn. A

In my mind this is the only answer (at my time of reading this thread) that hits the nail on the head. Algorithms and Data Structures is something you learn. And disregard everyone who says "I don't actually need this in my job". They may have just forgotten how trivial it is for them to implement a binary search instead of a linear scan at the proper place with a second thought. Or they really don't... and have code out there that does in 15 seconds (or much worse) what could have been happening in the fraction of a millisecond. But, like most "mathy" subjects, this is not something that you usually pick up on the go. At the very least you need a solid foundation, and that only comes through serious studying. Taking a textbook, opening it at the first page, and starting to work through it is one of the better ways to achieve that. "Mathematics, you see, is not a spectator sport." - George Pólya