Full Stack / 3 min read
Are You a JavaScript Developer If You Can’t Answer These Questions?
Yes, you heard it right — that’s what my friend was asked in an interview. But should a JavaScript developer be judged on a specific…
Are You a JavaScript Developer If You Can’t Answer These Questions?
Yes, you heard it right — that’s what my friend was asked in an interview. But should a JavaScript developer be judged on a specific syntax recall?
A bit of background: my friend has 4+ years of experience in IT, with a solid knowledge of full-stack technologies. He’s worked across various industries, building products on different scales. Let’s look at the interview experience to understand what happened.
Interview Process Recap:
Interviewer🧑💼: Tell me about yourself.
Friend👨🏻🎓: Provides a brief introduction and highlights his previous work experience.
Interviewer🧑💼: Write a custom operation function for the following array, using a callback to define the operation.
const arr = [1,2,3,4,5]
console.log(arr.customOpertion((a, b) => a + b))Friend👨🏻🎓: Wrote a customOperation function but didn’t recall the exact syntax for JavaScript’s prototype property, so he asked if he could look it up.
// What he wrote as a solution
customOperation = function (callback, initialValue=0) {
let accumulator = initialValue;
for(let i= 0 ; i < this.length ; i++){
accumulator = callback(accumulator, this[i])
}
return accumulator;
};
// What was left
Array.prototype.customOperation = customOperation;Interviewer🧑💼: Are you even a JavaScript Developer if you don’t know such a small thing?
Friend👨🏻🎓: He was shocked to hear this, and as soon as the interview ended, he had already made up his mind. Even though he cleared that round, he chose not to proceed with the interview process any further.
My Take:
Does knowing every syntax detail define a JavaScript developer? My friend understood the task, was ready with a solution, and only needed a quick syntax lookup — something we do all the time in real-world development. In a practical setting, developers continually search, learn, and apply solutions without relying on memory alone.
Interviews should focus on problem-solving abilities, adaptability, and understanding, rather than just syntax recall. What matters is whether we know what to do and can deliver a timely, effective solution.
Conclusion:
Real-life development isn’t about memorizing syntax; it’s about problem-solving. Interview formats should reflect the reality of coding, where the goal is to find solutions, not to simply recite code.