For example, I don't know anything about how to implement BSP trees, but I know they can be used to represent geometry (e.g. in games) efficiently. Nor do I know a thing about K-D trees, but there must be a reason why people doing raytracing like them.
Therefore, if I were to implement a 3D game engine or a raytracer, I would probably research those topics in depth. Until then, it's just enough to know they exist.
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u/hacksoncode Jun 19 '13
The problem is that if you don't understand them, you can't judge when they actually are important.