&gt; Why do you feel this way?<p>For the same reason why I feel whiteboarding and having someone breathing down your neck are generally not reasonable conditions to place on a candidate (and you seem to agree with me for these two points, so I&#x27;ll only expand on the point about internet access): It doesn&#x27;t make sense to place artificial limits on candidates&#x27; abilities to perform their work, when that&#x27;s exactly what you&#x27;re trying to gauge in a technical interview.<p>RE: internet access.<p>As with natural language, developers tend to have an active vocabulary (concepts and APIs that they come across often and can recall on demand), a passive vocabulary (concepts and APIs that they may be aware of and recognize, but cannot apply immediately or without reference), and a set of completely unknown vocabulary.<p>Yes, developers should strive to build and maintain our active vocabulary to the greatest extent possible (i.e. memorize all the things) since it would make us more productive. However, human active memory is severely limited compared to the vast amount of knowledge developers often need to perform their work, and as such the vast majority of most developers&#x27; knowledge tends to reside in their passive vocabulary.<p>To force candidates to develop without internet access means limiting them to their active vocabulary, when this is only a tiny subset of their total vocabulary. This means you won&#x27;t get an accurate picture of their ability to perform their work, which is exactly what we&#x27;re trying to gauge in a technical interview.