[muzani]

It's hard to give people a copy of your code and see if they can navigate it. I find a reasonable middle ground is to create a template of the hardest bits of code. Get them to build something with it, hack it, and so on. See where they ask questions.

An algorithm takes hours to pick up. A language may take weeks. A paradigm takes months. If you use, say, functional programming everywhere, you should probably check that the applicant knows how to write functional. It's not about map(), it's about whether you code with globals and side effects. If it's reactive programming, does it properly observe and collect? If you're doing declarative UI, how do you abstract the pieces, where is the button click handled?

Some things are learnable, but this is where you see people get defensive. If you're moving in from a similar paradigm but different language, you'll find a way and you'll even contribute your own insights. I think people tend to butt heads here and it's a good headbutting simulator if you do some live coding with the team you're working with.