And this is exactly the problem I am describing. If the position is for someone who is only going to write js, then I agree. Those are important questions. But then that is for an engineering position who writes in js, not a frontend engineer.

If you want a good example of what happens when strict CS people write javascript without thought or knowledge of frontend best practices, look at YUI. Ugh.

So my argument boils down to making a clear distinction between a programmer and s frontend engineer. You describe the first, I the latter.