Knowing data structures separates the men from the boys. If you do not understand the difference between a tree (C++ std::set for example) or a hash table (std:

Knowing data structures separates the men from the boys. If you do not understand the difference between a tree (C++ std::set for example) or a hash table (std::unordered_set) you have placed yourself at a disadvantage. You can learn these things, they are not rocket science and you don't need a CS or math degree to do so, but it's important that you do learn about them and when to use what data structure especially if you have to scale to more than you ever thought possible. Most all programming languages have containers (lists, sets, dictionaries, maps, etc.) that are backed by various data structures. So you can experiment and learn.