I can see giving a test like this for an entry level job, but for more senior positions it doesn't really make much sense to me. I'd rather show off a bunch of

I can see giving a test like this for an entry level job, but for more senior positions it doesn't really make much sense to me. I'd rather show off a bunch of projects I have under my belt or code I've written in the past. For example, I haven't had to write my own algorithm to parse a b-tree or implement binary search since I left school. I could explain how these algos work, but to actually implement it perfectly in python or java under timed conditions with no outside docs, I would most certainly fail and the company would miss out on a pretty good generalist.