> Interestingly, I found that committing to memorizing facts actually helped me gain a deeper understanding of the topics themselves, which was not what I originally expected
Be careful with this, perceived self understanding doesn't reflect real understanding.
There is only one real way to test, and the subject being CS, it is even more real: building things using those concepts.
For other subjects (and CS, too): demonstrate mastery with teaching others, producing something with the concepts learned and get feedback.
This way one can test true learning. And, even when tested this way, Spaced Repeatition really helps. I am speaking from experience.
When you are in a place where you can immerse yourself in a proper environment, like a college or work- where you hear terms and their usage regularly, learning becomes easier.
But when your environment is cut-off from the buzzing world, or everyone is doing ML and you want to do Cybersecurity, you can fake immersion using Anki. A good part of physical immersion can be replaced with using Anki.
Be careful with this, perceived self understanding doesn't reflect real understanding.