I write code every day, but I don't save it and its been 20 years since I wrote any code for 'pleasure'. For pleasure I have sex, go to a symphony or swim in the ocean. Coding is something I do because I'm good at it and people will pay me for it.
Further, I don't save code. I sell it. If I saved it then I would have to organize it, keep track of it and back it up. Why do that? I'm a programmer. Code I have written for fun or for some small experimental reason has no value to me because I can do it again and again at any time, like breathing. Sure, non-programmers value my code and they save it for posterity but I don't. It has no value to me once I've been paid for it.
Why would I go to all the trouble to keep a complete record of something I could do again at any time? Am I supposed to save what I'm typing right now to prove I can communicate? Do I save lawn clippings to prove I can operate a lawn mower? Do I save my waste to prove I can defecate?
You save code + accompanying documents in order to build up a portfolio to demonstrate to a potential employer how you work, how well you know your tools, and what your idea of a shippable product is. During the interview, you can talk about why you wrote the software, what designs you tried, what kinds of challenges you faced while doing so, and how you surmounted them.
At my company, we offer coding challenges for people who don't have a portfolio already. But really, why not just write software of your own choosing so that you don't need to do coding challenges to prove your ability? It's a far more efficient approach.
> If I saved it then I would have to organize it, keep track of it and back it up.
I really find this hard to swallow. It fails for me on so many counts.
Firstly, code is small compared to just about anything else you might keep on your computer. All you have to do to preserve it is drop it in a directory you keep for that purpose. The code doesn't have to be organized in order to preserve it. If you back up your computer, then your code is backed up. You back up your computer don't you?
Sure, it may be hard to find some useful piece of code later if you don't organize it, but preserving it, at least, is easy.
More importantly, you never write reusable code? You never write a library that can be applied to future problems? If not, then, you may not be the type of programmer that I'd want to work with anyway. I firmly believe that the way to increased productivity for any team is to factor out useful components and make them into more general purpose libraries. To do otherwise, is to end up with a codebase that is bloated with boilerplate.
Thirdly, if coding for you is as natural as breathing, surely you can whip up a couple of pages of code as a "code portfolio" in no time. You could have done that instead of typing in the above for your pleasure.
Not against you personally, but I'm fascinated by how clear people are about aspects of candidates they don't want to hire. There are so many dealbreakers in this thread (in the main), it's like a dating site full of people who have a lot of difficulty finding partners (hint: all dating sites are full of people with dealbreakers).
Further, I don't save code. I sell it. If I saved it then I would have to organize it, keep track of it and back it up. Why do that? I'm a programmer. Code I have written for fun or for some small experimental reason has no value to me because I can do it again and again at any time, like breathing. Sure, non-programmers value my code and they save it for posterity but I don't. It has no value to me once I've been paid for it.
Why would I go to all the trouble to keep a complete record of something I could do again at any time? Am I supposed to save what I'm typing right now to prove I can communicate? Do I save lawn clippings to prove I can operate a lawn mower? Do I save my waste to prove I can defecate?