Asking about what happens at a low level when entering a URL however is a good question. Or perhaps asking how to do cross domain JSON requests etc...
The former is a question about fundamentals, whereas the latter is a question about specific implementations. I agree that as a Web developer you should probably need to know what JSONP is, but it's also something that could be learned in about 5 minutes from Google.
I like it when a phone interview is basically a conversation. I don't like Spanish Inquisition-style interviews, so I like to start with something and watch it lead to other things. Of course, if the conversation drops dead I can refer to my notes and ask another question. With regard to the URL question, in the past I have allowed the interviewee to answer the URL question as best they can, and the ask questions to cover some of the gaps, and these questions can lead into JSONP handling and its ilk.
As an aside and a <rant type=small />, interviewing like this ensures that there is a natural flow and I'm keeping my interviewee's brain jumping between similar contexts. I hate it when I've been interviewed and I'm expected to context switch between algorithms (mergesort) to best practises (SOLID) to programming (implement REST with Jersey+Servlets). And this is all in a 30-60 minute "conversation".
The former is a question about fundamentals, whereas the latter is a question about specific implementations. I agree that as a Web developer you should probably need to know what JSONP is, but it's also something that could be learned in about 5 minutes from Google.
I like it when a phone interview is basically a conversation. I don't like Spanish Inquisition-style interviews, so I like to start with something and watch it lead to other things. Of course, if the conversation drops dead I can refer to my notes and ask another question. With regard to the URL question, in the past I have allowed the interviewee to answer the URL question as best they can, and the ask questions to cover some of the gaps, and these questions can lead into JSONP handling and its ilk.
As an aside and a <rant type=small />, interviewing like this ensures that there is a natural flow and I'm keeping my interviewee's brain jumping between similar contexts. I hate it when I've been interviewed and I'm expected to context switch between algorithms (mergesort) to best practises (SOLID) to programming (implement REST with Jersey+Servlets). And this is all in a 30-60 minute "conversation".