It also isn't just your code that is being judged - if you can't pose a simple question to some people sitting across a desk from you, or if you're too stodgy to ever under any circumstances write pseudocode or a piece of code that you aren't sure works yet, or make up a reasonable API that you don't remember the exact incantation for, maybe because you're too honorable or something, then I don't think you're a culture fit.
This is one of the point that I am getting at, you are right it's not just the code that is being judged, candidates know that too, so when they are standing at the whiteboard a million things about being judge may be going through their mind. It has nothing to do with being stodgy or honorable or above the effort and everything to do, with some people just cannot perform in such an environment. People hold out that it is a negative filter, that if you can't pass it, you are a definite negative and observations on a lot of peoples parts are not confirming that assumption. I side with the author of the article that there is an all inclusive way to identify good candidates that fall into this category as well as candidates that would pass the whiteboard test without resorting to the whiteboard. I am not arguing that people should not be able to code, rather I side with the author that there is a better way to identify the people that can and receive more positive hits in the process. Thus reducing the interviewing cycle and identify more talent in a constrained market.
Ah, apologies, I didn't mean to advocate for coding tests as an all-or-nothing negative filter, though I see now that the thread I'm in may suggest that. It can be a good negative filter, but nobody should be disqualified by a single poor answer. Good questions are designed to reveal problem solving skills, so the path taken even to a very poor answer should be illuminating and lead the interviewer to another question.
This is one of the point that I am getting at, you are right it's not just the code that is being judged, candidates know that too, so when they are standing at the whiteboard a million things about being judge may be going through their mind. It has nothing to do with being stodgy or honorable or above the effort and everything to do, with some people just cannot perform in such an environment. People hold out that it is a negative filter, that if you can't pass it, you are a definite negative and observations on a lot of peoples parts are not confirming that assumption. I side with the author of the article that there is an all inclusive way to identify good candidates that fall into this category as well as candidates that would pass the whiteboard test without resorting to the whiteboard. I am not arguing that people should not be able to code, rather I side with the author that there is a better way to identify the people that can and receive more positive hits in the process. Thus reducing the interviewing cycle and identify more talent in a constrained market.