The best programmer interviews I have ever underwent -- as a candidate -- were almost identical to "doing real work". Either because we actually did real work

The best programmer interviews I have ever underwent -- as a candidate -- were almost identical to "doing real work". Either because we actually did real work -- the interview was literally "work with us for a day and see how you like it" -- or because the interview process primarily centered around exploring problems in a wide solution space, collaboratively with the interviewers.