I think that the whole interviewing and whiteboard frustration is because not all software development is equal. I think software development is a spectrum, wit

I think that the whole interviewing and whiteboard frustration is because not all software development is equal. I think software development is a spectrum, with (let's say) on the one hand engineering (the academic side) and the other development (let's call it the "craft" side). Most software positions/roles/jobs sit somewhere in the middle or lean to one side or the other. Some companies are clearly academic, think of the Google's of this world. Other companies are more crafty/creative, think e.g. of typical web-dev shops. Games development is an interesting one. As software developers we like to stick things in clearly defined boxes and treat software development as one big box. But I think it isn't. I believe that the frustration most people have with interviewing is that the wrong style of interviewing is applied for a certain role. E.g. a company that is clearly on the crafts/creative side is hiring like they're Google (because they read about how Google does it on the Internet). My experience is that in most situations whiteboard interviews don't contribute a single thing. A good conversation about making software usually does a lot more. But I guess for inexperienced interviewers, a whiteboard is an easy tool to hide behind.