[pjackson]

The whiteboard and pseudocode questions work for me, but personally I like to put a laptop in front of them with an IDE and a coding problem.

I allow outside help (google, etc) because in their work environment, they are permitted to use any reference materials they want.

I also let them ask me questions.

Exact syntax, without the benefit of the compiler or IDE, is unimportant to me. And, candidates that are on the spot to write code on a whiteboard are usually more nervous when working in an unusual medium (who codes on a whiteboard?)

So yes: in my opinion, they should write code in some fashion, and if that medium doesn't include a syntax checker, the simple errors are OK.

[jmtame]

That seems like a great approach, thanks for chiming in to help.