Reading this site and SO I've seen many stories of interview questions and answers saying a candidate had to implement a linked list from scratch. Usually this is a "gimme" exercise for programming role candidates like writing FizzBuzz. The idea is that if the candidate can't do this, they can't program and should be rejected almost immediately.

However, I can't help but think this could be a poor practice for the following reasons:

• Modern higher level languages like C# and Python natively use lists extensively; writing your own linked list object would be only required under unusual circumstances and even then probably ill-advised.
• Lower level languages like C++ have standard libraries with iterators/list containers and objects.
• In light of the first two points, coders can go years without even thinking about implementing a list (linked, doubly-linked, etc) themselves. Some may not even really see such things since college days.
• Computing power also isn't the factor it was years ago, so efficiency via pointers isn't the issue it used to be (in general).
• A simple web search of something like "linked list example" would bring up plenty of code examples that could just be memorized and spat back out, not really indicating the true competence of the applicant.

I should say that using a linked list to lead to open-ended questions/discussions of candidates' problem solving/critical thinking abilities is mostly likely a really good interview practice. Any way an interviewer can really see what an applicant is like and how they think is massively beneficial.

I think this binary approach of "no linked list code, no job" for programmers working on a desktop or web application is a bit outdated. It could also be quite harmful; a candidate who can't remember how to properly work with the head of a list could be an otherwise excellent coder and co-worker and be lost in the mix. Thoughts?

Reading this site and SO I've seen many stories of interview questions and answers saying a candidate had to implement a linked list from scratch. Usually this is a "gimme" exercise for programming role candidates like writing FizzBuzz. The idea is that if the candidate can't do this, they can't program and should be rejected almost immediately.

However, I can't help but think this could be a poor practice for the following reasons:

• Modern higher level languages like C# and Python natively use lists extensively; writing your own linked list object would be only required under unusual circumstances and even then probably ill-advised.
• Lower level languages like C++ have standard libraries with iterators/list containers and objects.
• In light of the first two points, coders can go years without even thinking about implementing a list (linked, doubly-linked, etc) themselves. Some may not even really see such things since college days.
• Computing power also isn't the factor it was years ago, so efficiency via pointers isn't the issue it used to be (in general).
• A simple web search of something like "linked list example" would bring up plenty of code examples that could just be memorized and spat back out, not really indicating the true competence of the applicant.

I should say that using a linked list to lead to open-ended questions/discussions of candidates' problem solving/critical thinking abilities is mostly likely a really good interview practice. Any way an interviewer can really see what an applicant is like and how they think is massively beneficial.

I think this binary approach of "no linked list code, no job" for programmers working on a desktop or web application is a bit outdated. It could also be quite harmful; a candidate who can't remember how to properly work with the head of a list could be an otherwise excellent coder and co-worker and be lost in the mix. Thoughts?

EDIT: There are many (good) comments suggesting that whether this is a good or bad question to ask depends on the context of the job. I strongly agree, so let me rephrase this question: Implementing a linked-list is a common interview question for a wide range of coding jobs, similar to questions like FizzBuzz or writing a recursive function for calculating factorials. Does this question have enough utility to be used commonly for evaluating programming candidates across the board? Or should considered a bad question to ask except for "Senior Developer, Embedded Linked Lists Team" positions?