[ziddoap]

Of course some young people don't know the things either. If it is discriminatory against older people, that doesn't mean younger people get a free pass.

I agree with a lot of what you have said - but the issues at hand here (at least, my interpretation) is not absolute fundamentals which are obviously important.

The issue (again, my interpretation) is taking something that is taught in school, somewhat rarely applied in practice (or, is replaced by a tool/library/whatever in practice) and putting some sort of spin on it then expecting someone to be able to answer it. Or taking a problem which already has an industry-accepted solution and asking the candidate to remake the wheel in 30 minutes.

If your fresh out of school you're more likely to remember that one obscure class you took few months ago which covered some trick situation. Or you'll remember that class which taught you about that industry-accepted solution and the why behind it.

If you've been in the field for 15 years using some tool/library to solve the problem, you're less likely to remember that one obscure class you took 15 years ago which explained the origin. Or that class which covered the trick situations.

For what its worth, I don't think this is a widespread problem and very likely not deliberate when it does happen. But, I think it happens often enough that we should at least be talking about it.