Well you're disagreeing with the best practices of the industry. Spolksy articulates it well here [1] "Engineers are perfectly capable of walking through a pr

Well you're disagreeing with the best practices of the industry. Spolksy articulates it well here [1] "Engineers are perfectly capable of walking through a problem with a candidate and almost immediately measuring their ability in how they approach it" Software is not Engineering in the classical sense, and almost zero software is Engineering, and almost zero developers have a formal Engineering background. The material reality of Software is understanding problems spaces and producing coherent solutions, sometimes at different scale, sometimes using different bits of tech, but a degree of coding ability is definitely a necessary aspect. So if we adjust your statement: 'Only a developer can judge a developer' - of course - that's the point of leeting. In what scenario would 'talking' in abstractions about something be more useful than 'actually doing it'? Coding is a huge part of the job. Of course, it's not everything, and some devs. may have really strong skills and yet a narrow view of things, but that's actually easier to change. Getting along is important as well, so that's why we have an interview ... but there's no avoiding leeting/close whiteboarding. [1] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/10/25/the-guerrilla-guide-to-interviewing-version-30/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/10/25/the-guerrilla-guid...