If that works for you, then great, but you’re locking yourself out of an entire world of software professionals who only code for work. I suspect those who don’t code outside work outnumber those who do.
If their understanding that amateurs make for better hires than professionals is correct, then amateurs being the minority makes an even stronger case for filtering.
I agree 100%. I used to code all the time, prior to my CS degree, in High School, etc. But now I'm a professional programmer. I don't code outside of work, because coding is what I already do 4-6 hours a day. Now that it's my job, I've taken to other hobbies (and raising a family). I love what I do, but I don't live for it.
Which is fine. But that doesn't mean you should be favored in an interview and it certainly doesn't mean you're a better programmer than I am. My point was: favoring people that code for fun is just as bad as favoring people who only received formal degrees.
I didn't get that "point" from your post. I was just trying to assert the oft-ignored type of person (I am not an aberration) that still likes coding, after a lifetime. Even when I am inevitably confined to a hospital bed, I will code in my head.
