Why Whiteboarding Needs To Die

Everywhere you look, the pen and the paper is being replaced by the stylus and the touch screen. In the early 2000s, the first few smart-boards rolled out into classrooms, abrogating the chalks and markers and erasers and grime-stained boards. These new boards promised an catered to different learning styles. Now fast forward to the iPad and Surface Pro era. Touch interfaces have now found homes on monitors.

So the big question is, why do tech companies still wheel out the good ol’ dry erase board during technical interviews? Do the technical interviewers inwardly cackle with glee when they see their candidates’ eyes widen at all the battle scars on their boards? Most likely not. Is the whiteboarding phenomenon a time-worn tradition that needs to be kicked into the 21st century?

Yes.

The problem with the dreaded whiteboard is that it is completely antithetical to a programmer’s normal work environment.Gone are the hotkeys. Gone is that nice editor that makes code reading a somewhat pleasing experience. In place of all the convenience a computer provides is a marker and your insecurities. Of course, with constant practise, whiteboarding may just become a mild annoyance rather than a massive migraine. But if tech companies continue to demand whiteboarding and recruits continue to despise it, there has to be a happy medium.