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Yes but I think the point is a lot of interviewers do not go for pseudocode. They want syntax perfect solutions on a whiteboard.

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Yes. That's essentially what I was getting at. Asking someone to code accurately on a whiteboard is nonsense.

When I interviewed at Google, they asked me if my whiteboard code would compile. I said, "give me a laptop and I'll tell you". I don't think they liked that answer. ;)

When I ask candidates if their whiteboard code compiles, it's a gentle hint that there are major structural issues, or an opportunity for them to point out the parts that are psuedocode-y. In general I don't include whether the code compiles (mostly JS, so "runs") in feedback unless it is amazingly perfect or really far off. This seems standard.

This. When interviewers feel that the question was not hard enough or that they didn't like the answer, they often fall back on "you're missing a semicolon".

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