To me it's a good indicator of whether someone has a basic understanding of how to write efficient code. If you're hiring a mechanic, given the same pay reques

To me it's a good indicator of whether someone has a basic understanding of how to write efficient code. If you're hiring a mechanic, given the same pay request, who would you rather hire: (a) mechanic who can build a car that does 0-100 in 4 seconds or (b) mechanic who can build a car that does 0-100 in 10 seconds?