> Companies do code testing because they have encountered so many candidates who look good on paper, and may even be able to talk about computers convincingly,

> Companies do code testing because they have encountered so many candidates who look good on paper, and may even be able to talk about computers convincingly, but can’t actually write a program when asked. Any program. At all. Maybe I'm reading too much into this and it's just semantics quibbling but maybe talking about computers is not talking about coding ? I've never met someone able to pass for a programmer when they are not. I've always felt just asking candidates to talk about their last or favorite project help catching a glimpse of how they think about software problems. Little anectode : my brother is the first software engineer of the family Father : "Son, what kind of computer should I get ?" Son : "I don't know much about choosing computers" Father : "Don't you write software for a living ?" Son : "Yes, exactly"