I had a job interview several days ago. They have now asked me program a small puzzle game.
Although I anticipate that it will be less than 1,500 lines of code, it is still a substantial amount of work. They asked for a full application. While I do think the excercise is useful, it requires far more effort than any other interview I've been on. Is 1,500 lines out of the ordinary for a job interview? Certainly, if I had a job, the assignment would never get done.