The last interview I did, I was asked to find and fix a bug in a small code fragment. On my own, I'd have fixed it in a jiffy; with two interviewers looking over my shoulder I was nervous, and it took longer.
But if you're interviewing on the basis that the candidate claims in their resume to know language X, then a brief test of that is essential; and an online test doesn't cut the mustard - it could be anyone doing the work.
The last interview I did, I was asked to find and fix a bug in a small code fragment. On my own, I'd have fixed it in a jiffy; with two interviewers looking over my shoulder I was nervous, and it took longer.
But if you're interviewing on the basis that the candidate claims in their resume to know language X, then a brief test of that is essential; and an online test doesn't cut the mustard - it could be anyone doing the work.