Even so, you shouldn't underestimate people's ability to have a meltdown during the pressure of an interview.. I won't comment on the React question, since I've

Even so, you shouldn't underestimate people's ability to have a meltdown during the pressure of an interview.. I won't comment on the React question, since I've never used it and don't know what a 'reducer' is.. but even the truly bizarre for-loop you posted is likely to cause confusion to some people during the interview. If I saw it while I felt the pressure of an interview, then I'd possibly feel confused and would need a couple of minutes to understand what was happening. This would no doubt reflect poorly on me, which is unfortunate because when I don't feel the pressure of the interview then I can instantly understand (and laugh at) the code. I believe you'd have much better results if you ascertained the applicants technical ability before the interview, and instead spent the interview getting to know the person, to see if (s)he had a positive and friendly personality. If none of your applicants have side-projects or code on GitHub then perhaps you're searching the wrong places, and/or failing to properly promote the position (especially if some of your developers are earning 2xxK). I'm sure if you posted the position in HN's 'Who's Hiring' and included a 100+k salary, then you'd get flooded by talented developers that have open source code/impressive side-projects. And if somebody with an impressive resume doesn't have that, then you can just request a small take-home assignment that's related to the work you do. If you'd like to avoid getting flooded with resumes', then you could also just reach out to the developers you find interesting on GitHub.. considering your salary range then I imagine you'd have a very high interest rate.