[pm90]

I really don't see much wrong with a 1-2 hour coding exercise. I'm really averse to "projects" that are supposed to span more time though, since I have a full time job and also a life besides.

Others have mentioned engineers not being able to do fizzbuzz, and that is certainly the most important part. Another one is, I've personally worked in larger orgs where "engineers" stick around for years, but haven't really done any solid coding whatsoever in years. They use tools developed by others to "assist" their team, but are actually the least productive people. One of the strategies that help this is by not automating certain repetitive tasks, so that it seems to require the attention of a full time engineer. e.g. I knew a person whose job day in and out was clicking in the Jenkins UI to run the jobs (!).

Of course this is not universal. But a small coding exercise is a good compromise imo.