[lsiebert]

Unless handwriting is a big part of the job irl, it shouldn't be for the interview. White board for drawing a db schema or something, maybe, but programmers type.

Also, it can be hard to generate code on the fly in an uncomfortable situation, and breaking the ice is important. I've often wondered if asking individuals to debug, test and fix, or to refactor code, might not be a use way to get a high level look at their product, and ease them into programming mode so when they get to actually writing a function for your next question they are tuned up and ready to go.