> Is this to do with your comfort level in understanding their approach? No, this is to do with knowing that they can, when asked to solve a problem, actually

> Is this to do with your comfort level in understanding their approach? No, this is to do with knowing that they can, when asked to solve a problem, actually solve the problem. Just like Spolsky's fizzbuzz test. A surprising proportion cannot. As part of a live interview, it also tests a bunch of other things that help me work out whether we would be happy collaborating on things: what's this person like to explain things to? What are they like at explaining what they're thinking or why they're doing what they're doing? Are they the sort of person that actually listens, or the sort that pattern-matches and ends up answering a different question to the one I asked? And so on. But a quick show-me-you-can-problem-solve-at-all, laugh and move on is the main goal.