I find the most useful thing about CS knowledge (and especially algorithms & data structures) is having a hunch for the shape of a problem and knowing what to g

I find the most useful thing about CS knowledge (and especially algorithms & data structures) is having a hunch for the shape of a problem and knowing what to google for. It can save a lot of thinking and stave off performance problems before they occur. But you’re there to deliver business value and it’s only right that those concerns should dominate. That doesn’t mean you won’t have “this database is completely unmanageable and we can’t add new features fast enough” or “this complicated request is incredibly slow and customers are angry” moments that your knowledge can solve though.