Gerry,

I agree almost entirely with you. For 85 percent of us the pure knowledge of the details of the language is superfluous to what we really need to accomplish. I do believe that there is a level of developers out there - the remaining 15 percent - that do know the material to that level of detail and exepect others to know it as well if they are going to work with them. I think both views have merit, but since I'm in the majority I feel that for most interviews these technical questions really don't do much except needlessly restrict your candidate base.

Renoir

>The simple fact is: nobody writes programs from "scratch".
>
>If anybody ever wrote a program from scratch, it was only once. After that, it's all cloning, copying, cutting, pasting ... even for new development.
>
>And if we're talking "maintenance", then the ability to decipher "other people's code" is even more important than simply coding from "scratch".
>
>(And many people can "read" a "language", though they may have a bit of difficulty "speaking" the language).
>
>I agree Claudio: I think I "know" FoxPro; but I always start a new program using one of my (many) existing programs as a base.
>
>Adding a new feature is usually a question of wanting to accomplish something and then searching the knowledge base for the "how" ... and since there is usually more than one way to accomplish something, you have to be able to evaluate alternatives.
>
>(Nobody expects one to know the spelling and meaning of every possible word; knowing how to use a dictionary or a thesaurus is what that's all about).
>
>>>Frankly, I'd hire most people who are enthusiastic, curious, and willing to crack open a book if need be.
>>>
>>>Most of these "questions" that people are posing here could only be answered by a very small minority; the ability to know "where" and "how" to find the answers is more important than having a photographic memory, IMO.
>>>
>>>Ask them for a sample of their code and ask them to do a walk thru.
>>>
>>Hi Gerry;
>>
>>I agree entirely with you.. I am considered plenty expert in the subject of VFP and even me had doubts of some questions :-))
>>
>>
>>Here is the point: The ability to know "where" and "how" to find the answers is more important than having a photographic memory
>>
>>CLAUDIO