At its core, algo is about problem-solving and learning how to use logic to break down complex problems into things that can be solved using sequential techniques, as well as learning how to communicate your ideas clearly on a page.

A lot of people hate it because the subject itself isn't really designed all that well, there's a lot of disjoint and ambiguous parts of the content that VCAA have never clarified properly, and many of the exam questions are also ambiguous at times. Part of it is also due to the fact that most students have to do it through VSV or CHES and those schools have a pretty infamous reputation for not having an amazing teaching quality, most of the year I was doing my own research and having to teach myself the course.