If you didn't ask candidates to bring code samples, it should come as no surprise that most don't, even though they might be able.
Where I work, we don't ask candidates to bring in a random code sample because instead we have them submit a coding exercise that they can do at home at their leisure. Our entire team then code reviews the code. Given the quality of most of the code submissions, it may be true that most programmers never program for fun, but if so, it shows this fact shows in the quality of their work.
All of the people who've given us nice submissions have also been very enthusiastic about what they do. I know this because we ask candidates if they read any programming journals or books just for their own edification, and the good ones always do. They always show some motivation beyond just completing assigned tasks.
We're a Scala shop, though, so we need people who aren't just programming because it's their job and for no other reason. Such people would have no motivation to become skilled in a complex programming language that is not yet mainstream.
I was doing PHP in 1996. If you were doing PHP in 1996, it was generally because you wanted to do it, learn it, etc (arguably web stuff in general then a bit too). There weren't many "PHP jobs" as such back then, so when you found other PHP developers, you knew they were enthusiasts of some sort.
That's where Scala's been, and almost any 'newish' language. If you find people adopting them, they're probably enthusiastic about it, and enjoy living on the cutting edge. :)
Where I work, we don't ask candidates to bring in a random code sample because instead we have them submit a coding exercise that they can do at home at their leisure. Our entire team then code reviews the code. Given the quality of most of the code submissions, it may be true that most programmers never program for fun, but if so, it shows this fact shows in the quality of their work.
All of the people who've given us nice submissions have also been very enthusiastic about what they do. I know this because we ask candidates if they read any programming journals or books just for their own edification, and the good ones always do. They always show some motivation beyond just completing assigned tasks.
We're a Scala shop, though, so we need people who aren't just programming because it's their job and for no other reason. Such people would have no motivation to become skilled in a complex programming language that is not yet mainstream.