What would be a good 4-hour development task for a job interview?

What are some good short development tasks (2-3 hrs) for entry-mid level JavaScript developer interview?

• I am trying to put up a job posting for entry level javascript developers and I want to attach a simple sample development task for them to submit along with the resume (as a pre-screening). What are some good small javascript development tasks that I can ask people to do that take 1-2 hours max and demonstrate entry-mid level skillset. I was thinking of a simple magic 8 ball like program, as well as adding bonus objectives of using canvas to draw out the ball + result.

• Answer:

  I find simple games are often a good task, e.g., tic-tac-toe, Battleship, Connect Four, checkers, etc.  They extend themselves naturally to the browser.  It's hard to copy-and-paste because the code is complex enough that certain idioms are easy to fingerprint.  There are enough moving parts that you get a sense of higher-level, architectural thinking.  It's also to see how detail-oriented they are.  Is indentation consistent?  Spelling?  Variable and function naming? Rather than a single task, I'd structure it like so: (10-20 minutes) Ask for a few quick code examples, e.g., "write me a method that does X", "write me a constructor for X", etc. (15-30 minutes) Ask for the reverse, "what does this code do?", "how would you refactor this code?", etc. (remainder) series of larger tasks that build on one another that involve multiple objects interacting with one another If your company is less focused on JavaScript per se and more focused on JavaScript in a UX context, I might ask them to implement some behavior from jQuery UI using nothing but plain JavaScript or jQuery Core. More important than what the tasks are, IMO, is the framework by which you decide what constitutes a good interview task.  In a screening situation your main goal is to filter out folks who don't pass the minimum bar so you don't waste time in person. To that end, I'd start by isolating the individual muscles and identifying the "red flags."  For example, I'd be alarmed if someone claiming to be a JavaScript engineer struggled with any of the following: Common object-creation patterns in JavaScript (literals, constructors, factories, etc.) Common object-oriented patterns in JavaScript (classical inheritance, extending existing objects, namespacing, etc.) JavaScript's scoping rules, in particular as they apply to information hiding (public, private, and privileged attributes, variables, methods, etc.) Common JavaScript idioms, e.g., semicolons -- yes or no?, (function($) { ... })(namespace);, etc. The JavaScript toolchain, debugging, logging, etc. If someone is wasting time with these once you're in person you know you've made a mistake in the screening step. You also want to hit the code from multiple angles.  For example, don't just ask them to write code, ask them to explain or refactor some existing code.  Write some specs in or whatever and ask them to write the code necessary to make the specs pass. Here are some attributes I think are necessary to exercise all these muscles.  The challenge should... Have more than one type of object, ideally in 1-to-many or many-to-many relationships with each other Stress diligence when it comes to information hiding Ask them to outline multiple approaches, but settle on one and justify it This answer is long enough, but I hope it was helpful!