I disagree with the author. A coding challenge is a good way to judge how a candidate approaches a problem. The ability to walk through what you’re thinking while you’re doing it is a great judge of ability.
It also helps to weed out people who can’t actually program, this comes up annoyingly often.
I agree that having intentional errors in a starter repository is bad though.
You can also have a discussion one how one would approach the problem vs actually doing the coding. The discussion alone would give great insight into how the applicant understands the whole concept, and any potential pitfalls that can be anticipated, etc.
It also helps to weed out people who can’t actually program, this comes up annoyingly often.
I agree that having intentional errors in a starter repository is bad though.