Algorithms are often treated as a trivia challenge, which is the complete wrong way to use them. What you really want to know is whether a person can translate

Algorithms are often treated as a trivia challenge, which is the complete wrong way to use them. What you really want to know is whether a person can translate a set of requirements into working code. Algorithms are useful because they reduce the possibility that the candidate failed in the coding test because of poorly specified requirements. "Problem solving" ability is a different beast altogether.