What Makes a Great Coding Interview? Be Real

   It's easy to create a simple coding test that
   asks the candidate to reverse strings, calculate
   a fibonacci number, or print fizzbuzz.  But as
   you can see from these links, they're worthless
   questions. They don't foster conversation, ...

Wrong. When done badly, as cargo cult[0][1] interviewing, then they don't foster conversation. When done well they serve as the springboard to some great conversations.

Get to the "why" of the question - it's not pass/fail, it's not "tick this box and move on." It's a "starter for 10."[2][3][4]

Claiming otherwise is simply demonstrating that you've missed the point. Much of the article is good, but with regards the simple tests and "pen and paper" questions, it simply misses the point.

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[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_science

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming

[2] http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english...

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starter_for_Ten

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Challenge