The key bit is getting people to explain the answer, not the answer itself. I have had interviews where the company has done that. I would rate all of those in

The key bit is getting people to explain the answer, not the answer itself. I have had interviews where the company has done that. I would rate all of those interviews to be very high quality. No nonsense trick/leading questions. Just simple: can this person actually program? What does he understand? What doesn't he understand? I felt like it was obvious what I could and could not do...there was nowhere to hide. Btw, in terms of investment, this seemed far cheaper for the companies too. What is cheaper? Arranging an hour-long interview where you go through a simple problem that is focused and will clearly identify knowledge. Against an hour-long interview where you probe someone randomly about their life and projects that the interviewer has no idea about (funnily enough, no matter how good you are communicating ideas...interviewers almost always get it wrong).