That is certainly valuable. But, so is actually implementing cryptographic algorithms, in a context where if you make a mistake it doesn't really matter, becaus

That is certainly valuable. But, so is actually implementing cryptographic algorithms, in a context where if you make a mistake it doesn't really matter, because it isn't in "production." Or even if you just want to understand how an algorithm works, implementing it yourself will probably help you understand it more than reading, or finding problems in someone else's implementation.