[mundo]

I always do. For mid-to-senior it's more out of curiosity, but for entry-level it can impact my decision, especially for bootcamp grads.

I know the prevailing sentiment on HN is sometimes that hiring managers like making candidates jump through hoops to make themselves feel important, but I don't think that's the issue here. It's simply that someone who came to programming late in life is at a severe disadvantage compared to people who have been interested in it since fifth grade, and some kind of programming in your spare time is the best (only?) way to catch up.

Contra the article, I don't care if the project shipped, or if it's thoroughly unit tested, or how many iterations or whatever. I just want evidence that you're in the larval stage.

[itronitron]

Whenever I interview candidates I am always looking for things to talk to about with them so if I can find information on previous projects or publications of theirs then that is a good entry point to learn about their expertise.