Comment by Fervicus
1 day ago
> if you're primary role is to write software which interacts with a SQL database you should understand how to interact directly with that database.
I agree that there should be a general understanding one should be able to interact with it when needed. But at the same time I don't think devs need to be able to spit out queries with the right syntax on the spot in an interview setting.
Unless I'm doing an exercise where the candidate is actually writing software (in which case they can have Google, their favourite IDE, and if they must an LLM) I never expect exactly correct syntax in an interview. I'm assessing whether they demonstrate the sort of thought processes you'd expect from someone who knows what they're talking about, and can get in the same ballpark.
in our particular case, they could use google. that said, I didn't ask them anything particularly complex. the AI depndant coders(I saw nothing in their abilities that demonstrated engineering) broke down trying to update a single record of known id with a new value.