I think this is a really bad way to test. I don't know about anyone else but I would never do well on such an exam because the code I create is usually quite different than what many (most?) SMEs would even dream of even for some of the "simple" stuff. Unless the grading system actually tests the code for the correct answer, performance, scalability, and resource usage, I wouldn't trust it any further than I could throw a trailer full of SMEs. ;-)

Heh... if you could put all of the SMEs that said the Ribbon Bar in Office would be a good thing into a trailer, I'd give it a REALLY good college try, though! ;-) ;-) ;-)

As a former Algebra & Math teacher, I believe that, similar to math, the route to get to the answer is more important than getting it correct on any test. In the real world the "compiler/linker" is the final test of whether it should work or not. Short answers are the bane of math teachers, we can't tell if the student has the concept.