Hiring guide for ATS Engineers

ATS Developer Hiring Guide

ATS is a computer programming language created by John McCarthy in 1968. It is a functional programming language that is designed to be easy to read and write. ATS is used in a variety of applications, including artificial intelligence, computer vision, and natural language processing. Source: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATS_(programming_language)

Ask the right questions secure the right ATS talent among an increasingly shrinking pool of talent.

First 20 minutes

General ATS app knowledge and experience

The first 20 minutes of the interview should seek to understand the candidate's general background in ATS application development, including their experience with various programming languages, databases, and their approach to designing scalable and maintainable systems.

What are the key features of ATS?
ATS has several key features including strong static typing, pattern matching, theorem proving for program verification, and support for functional and concurrent programming.
How would you describe the difference between ATS and other programming languages?
ATS combines functional and imperative programming. It allows for theorem proving which is not common in other languages. It also has a very strong type system which can prevent many runtime errors.
What are some of the challenges you might face when developing with ATS?
ATS has a steep learning curve and its syntax can be quite complex. It also lacks extensive libraries and community support compared to more popular languages.
Describe the difference between static and dynamic typing in ATS.
Static typing in ATS means that the type of a variable is known at compile time. Dynamic typing means that the type is known at runtime. ATS is statically typed which helps catch errors early.
How would you handle error handling in ATS?
ATS provides exception handling mechanisms similar to other languages. You can use the try-catch-finally construct to handle exceptions.
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What you’re looking for early on

Does the candidate have a strong understanding of ATS development?
Has the candidate demonstrated problem-solving skills during the interview?
Is the candidate able to communicate effectively?
Does the candidate have experience with the specific ATS systems your company uses?

Next 20 minutes

Specific ATS development questions

The next 20 minutes of the interview should focus on the candidate's expertise with specific backend frameworks, their understanding of RESTful APIs, and their experience in handling data storage and retrieval efficiently.

What are linear types in ATS and how would you use them?
Linear types in ATS are a way to ensure that resources are properly managed. A value of a linear type must be used exactly once. This can be used to prevent memory leaks and null pointer exceptions.
How would you optimize a program written in ATS?
Optimization in ATS often involves using the type system to ensure correctness, using linear types to manage resources, and using the theorem proving capabilities to verify the program's correctness.
Describe the difference between dependent types in ATS and generics in other languages.
Dependent types in ATS are a way to express properties about the data in the type system. Generics in other languages are a way to write code that works with any data type. Dependent types are more powerful and flexible than generics.
What are the advantages of using theorem proving in ATS?
Theorem proving in ATS allows you to formally verify the correctness of your code. This can prevent many types of bugs and increase the reliability of your software.
How would you use dependent types in ATS to ensure correctness?
Dependent types in ATS can be used to express properties about the data in the type system. For example, you can use a dependent type to ensure that an array index is always within bounds.
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The ideal back-end app developer

What you’re looking to see on the ATS engineer at this point.

At this point, a skilled ATS engineer should demonstrate strong problem-solving abilities, proficiency in ATS programming language, and knowledge of software development methodologies. Red flags include lack of hands-on experience, inability to articulate complex concepts, or unfamiliarity with standard coding practices.

Digging deeper

Code questions

These will help you see the candidate's real-world development capabilities with ATS.

What does this simple piece of code do?
let x = 10;
let y = '5';
let z = x + y;
This code concatenates the string '5' with the number 10 to produce the string '105'.
What will be the output of this code snippet?
function test() {
  var x = 1;
  if (true) {
    var x = 2;
    console.log(x);
  }
  console.log(x);
}
test();
The output will be '2' and then '2' again. This is because in JavaScript, the 'var' keyword does not have block scope, but function scope.
What does this code snippet do?
let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
let sum = arr.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
This code calculates the sum of all numbers in the array 'arr' using the 'reduce' method.
What does this piece of code do?
let promise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
  setTimeout(() => resolve('done!'), 1000);
});
This code creates a new Promise that resolves with the string 'done!' after 1 second.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for ATS Developer role questions

The final few questions should evaluate the candidate's teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, assess their knowledge of microservices architecture, serverless computing, and how they handle ATS application deployments. Inquire about their experience in handling system failures and their approach to debugging and troubleshooting.

What are some of the limitations of ATS?
ATS has a steep learning curve and its syntax can be complex. It also lacks extensive libraries and community support compared to more popular languages.
How would you use ATS to develop a concurrent program?
ATS supports concurrent programming through the use of channels and processes. You can use these features to write concurrent programs in a similar way to other languages like Go.
Describe the difference between pattern matching in ATS and switch statements in other languages.
Pattern matching in ATS is more powerful than switch statements in other languages. It allows you to match on the structure of the data, not just its value.

ATS application related

Product Perfect's ATS development capabilities

Beyond hiring for your ATS engineering team, you may be in the market for additional help. Product Perfect provides seasoned expertise in ATS projects, and can engage in multiple capacities.