Hiring guide for BLISS Engineers

BLISS Developer Hiring Guide

Bliss was a programming language designed by Tony Hoare and Christopher Strachey in the early 1970s. It was intended to be a simple, efficient, and portable language that could be used to write both system software and applications. Bliss was never widely adopted, but it influenced the design of later languages such as Ada and C++. Sources: - [Tony Hoare's website](https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~tjh1000/) - [Christopher Strachey's website](https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~lucy10/strachey/) - [The Bliss programming language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliss_(programming_language))

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

First 20 minutes

General BLISS app knowledge and experience

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

What are the basic data types in BLISS?
The basic data types in BLISS are integer, real, boolean, character, and pointer.
How would you declare a variable in BLISS?
In BLISS, you declare a variable using the keyword 'OWN'. For example, 'OWN X;' declares a variable named X.
What is the purpose of the 'FORWARD' statement in BLISS?
The 'FORWARD' statement in BLISS is used to declare a function or routine that is defined later in the code.
Describe the difference between 'OWN' and 'GLOBAL' in BLISS.
'OWN' is used to declare a variable that retains its value between function calls, while 'GLOBAL' is used to declare a variable that is accessible from all parts of the program.
How would you implement a loop in BLISS?
In BLISS, you can implement a loop using the 'DO' statement. For example, 'DO I = 1 TO 10' creates a loop that runs 10 times.
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What you’re looking for early on

Does the candidate have a strong understanding of BLISS language?
How well does the candidate understand software development methodologies?
Is the candidate able to solve complex problems?
Does the candidate have experience with other programming languages?

Next 20 minutes

Specific BLISS 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 the conditional statements in BLISS?
The conditional statements in BLISS are 'IF', 'ELSE', 'THEN', 'CASE', and 'WHEN'.
How would you handle errors in BLISS?
In BLISS, you can handle errors using the 'EXCEPTION' statement. You can define an exception handler and use the 'SIGNAL' statement to raise an exception.
What is the purpose of the 'REQUIRE' statement in BLISS?
The 'REQUIRE' statement in BLISS is used to include external files or libraries in the program.
Describe the difference between 'BEGIN' and 'MODULE' in BLISS.
'BEGIN' is used to start a block of code, while 'MODULE' is used to define a new module or program in BLISS.
How would you define a function in BLISS?
In BLISS, you can define a function using the 'ROUTINE' keyword. For example, 'ROUTINE ADD(X, Y) = (RETURN X + Y;);' defines a function that adds two numbers.
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The ideal back-end app developer

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

At this point, a skilled BLISS engineer should demonstrate strong problem-solving abilities, proficiency in BLISS 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 BLISS.

What does this simple BLISS code do?
BEGIN
EXTERNAL ROUTINE PRINT;
PRINT('Hello, World!');
END;
This code prints out the string 'Hello, World!' to the console.
What does this BLISS code do?
BEGIN
OWN X = 10;
X = X + 5;
END;
This code declares a variable X, assigns it a value of 10, and then increments the value of X by 5.
What will be the output of this BLISS code?
BEGIN
OWN ARRAY X[5] = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
X[2] = X[2] + X[3];
END;
This code declares an array X with 5 elements, assigns values to the elements, and then increments the value of the third element by the value of the fourth element. The output will be the updated array.
What does this BLISS code do?
BEGIN
OWN X = 0;
WHILE X < 10 DO
BEGIN
X = X + 1;
END;
END;
This code declares a variable X, assigns it a value of 0, and then increments the value of X by 1 in a loop until X is no longer less than 10.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for BLISS 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 BLISS application deployments. Inquire about their experience in handling system failures and their approach to debugging and troubleshooting.

What are the different ways to pass parameters in BLISS?
In BLISS, you can pass parameters by value or by reference. By value means the function receives a copy of the value, and by reference means the function receives a reference to the original variable.
How would you implement recursion in BLISS?
In BLISS, you can implement recursion by having a function call itself. You need to ensure there is a base case to prevent infinite recursion.
What is the purpose of the 'BIND' statement in BLISS?
The 'BIND' statement in BLISS is used to create a constant. Once a value is bound to a name using 'BIND', it cannot be changed.

BLISS application related

Product Perfect's BLISS development capabilities

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