I did quit a lot of interviews for both development and devops position. I always was happy with the hires. I never asked to write code, but I ask them to explain higher level and some times lower level concepts. Than let them draw it on aboard, paper or just explain it depending on there preference. The reason is that if you have a good understanding of programing concepts you are probably able to code.
For instance explain the concept of MVC. I have interviewed candidates that only could explain where they would put certain code based on the framework they used but could not explain the design pattern nor why they would put the code where they said the would. these types of questions will give you some insight if someone is able to reason about code and explain why they prefer some style over the other.
For instance explain the concept of MVC. I have interviewed candidates that only could explain where they would put certain code based on the framework they used but could not explain the design pattern nor why they would put the code where they said the would. these types of questions will give you some insight if someone is able to reason about code and explain why they prefer some style over the other.