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I really like this question. What I get out of it is where the candidate focuses on, and where they gloss over. I find it useful to prefix the question with a s

I really like this question. What I get out of it is where the candidate focuses on, and where they gloss over. I find it useful to prefix the question with a statement about there being no "right" answer, and "go in as much detail as you want or know". Since I'm not hiring for hardware, when they get into minute details about keyboard and USB, I smile and gently interrupt to move to the browser making the request. Come to think of it, I may rephrase the question to "What happens when you click on a link?" since that covers browser events, CORS and all that fun; and does away with the keyboard.

toast0 6y ago
If you don't want to hear about USB details, beware, clicking often involves USB mice. More importantly, telling someone there is no right answer, and go into as much detail as they want, and then cutting them off when they do is a bad interview experience. At least guide them on where you want to focus. Or let them take you on an adventure through USB. The point of this as an interview question is to demonstrate broad knowledge as well as some detailed knowledge --- it doesn't particularly matter which knowledge. If someone can figure out USB, they can figure out TCP, etc. You're looking for people who can figure things out. It's all distributed state management. Maybe a little different if you're hiring a contractor than a staff member.