No, the equivalent here would be to expect back-end devs to build their own blog applications. What a waste of time. I did that when I was younger and it was only a distraction from actually writing and building things that mattered.
I built my own blog in Elixir/Phoenix when I was looking for a job as a junior dev, and at that time it indicated to employers that I can learn a new language on my own, that I understand basic web dev, etc. Now that I'm more on the hiring side of the equation I would still be impressed if a fresh CS or bootcamp grad built a blog (or any other simple project) in a newer stack that doesn't yet have hand-holding tutorials.
However, outside of junior level positions, I don't think there's much you can glean from whether somebody has done trivial side projects or not. Obviously an ambitious side project is worth a lot, but the bar for building one is really high and there are so many great devs who can't reasonably make the time outside of work to do that.
No one is forcing you to do any of this stuff. If you can find a job you like without doing it then that's awesome, but plenty of people can't. I'm suggesting a way that people can avoid being filtered out based on their resume because, whether you like it or not, wanting a candidate to demonstrate that they can code reasonably well before the interview stage is quite common.
I think people get a bit too hung up on the way FAANG-size corporations do hiring, with code tests, full time hiring managers, etc. That's only a fraction of the software industry, and if you're applying to somewhere smaller having a public portfolio is useful.
Sure, but this thread is about being judged by the thing that basically links to your portfolio (Github) or contains your demonstration of knowledge (like blog posts) instead of judging those those things directly. The OP dismisses the latter in favor of the former, and that's what I meant was a waste of time.
That you should build something if you don't have anything to show off at all is a completely different point -- and that doesn't seem to be your point when I reread your previous comment? At which point, I'd recommend building something more interesting than a blog unless you're a beginner, and I'd avoid mixing your writing with your attempt to build your first demo project. But this thread isn't about beginner advice.
No, the equivalent here would be to expect back-end devs to build their own blog applications. What a waste of time. I did that when I was younger and it was only a distraction from actually writing and building things that mattered.