[xsmasher]

1: I want to see if someone knows language foo, and I want to know that they can implement algorithms and data structures. In short I want to see that they've spent a lot of hours on this platform.

Of course anyone with the hacker nature can learn any language, but that doesn't mean I want them to learn it on the clock. When I want an electrician I call an electrician, not a smart friend who I think can learn it.

2: I don't ask brain teasers because someone who has heard the question before has a tremendous advantage over someone who has not. That's not what I want to test for.

RE: 3 and 4, I don't much care as long as they pass #1.