Exactly this. While the underlying theory is excellent on many of these theoretical algorithms, they typically don't perform as expected when taking into account the infinite complexities of the real-world.
But being able to understand the core value of the algorithm enables you to adapt or modify slightly in order to get it to work as needed in the real world.
In general just knowing that there are specialized algorithms for certain classes of problems is 80% of the expertise you gain over years of experience. Knowing that things like Bloom filters exist when you hit a problem that could be solved by this class of algorithm gets you much further than expertly memorizing any specific implementation of the algorithm. There are a variety of them depending on the actual use case you are looking to solve for.
But being able to understand the core value of the algorithm enables you to adapt or modify slightly in order to get it to work as needed in the real world.
In general just knowing that there are specialized algorithms for certain classes of problems is 80% of the expertise you gain over years of experience. Knowing that things like Bloom filters exist when you hit a problem that could be solved by this class of algorithm gets you much further than expertly memorizing any specific implementation of the algorithm. There are a variety of them depending on the actual use case you are looking to solve for.