It was just to illustrate how much arbitrary knowledge is required in modern stacks. We could be talking about totally different industries though, perhaps you're hiring senior C developers and it'd be weird if they didn't know the syntax yet.
For apps and web development, I wouldn't fuss too much about specific language syntaxes since if I were to cull my applicants based on language experience I'd be throwing away plenty of talented developers. I'd hire a talented Python developer for a job writing JS for example, if they're applying then they're willing to learn it.
Fair enough. In my interviews I tell candidates to code in the language they’re most familiar with. Hopefully someone has memorized a for loop in their go to language.
For apps and web development, I wouldn't fuss too much about specific language syntaxes since if I were to cull my applicants based on language experience I'd be throwing away plenty of talented developers. I'd hire a talented Python developer for a job writing JS for example, if they're applying then they're willing to learn it.