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Business Basic is a high-level programming language that was originally developed in the early 1970s for minicomputer systems. It was designed to allow business professionals with little or no programming experience to automate tasks and create custom applications for their specific needs. The language features simple syntax and commands that are easy to understand, making it accessible for beginners. Business Basic includes built-in functions for common business tasks such as database management, financial calculations, report generation, and file manipulation. Over time, several variations of Business Basic have been created by different vendors including MAI Systems Corporation's OpenBASIC and BASIS International Ltd.'s BBx (Business BASIC eXtended). These versions expand upon the original language with additional features like support for graphical user interfaces (GUI), networking capabilities, object-oriented programming concepts among others. Despite its age compared to more modern languages like Python or Java, Business Basic remains popular in certain industries due to its simplicity and ease of use especially in legacy systems.

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

First 20 minutes

General Business Basic app knowledge and experience

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

How would you declare a variable in Business Basic?

In Business Basic, you declare a variable simply by using it. There's no special syntax or command for declaring variables.

What are the data types supported by Business Basic?

Business Basic supports several data types including numeric, string, and date/time.

How would you perform string concatenation in Business Basic?

In Business Basic, you can use the '+' operator to concatenate strings. For example, 'Hello' + 'World' would result in 'HelloWorld'.

Describe the difference between the GOSUB and GOTO statements in Business Basic.

GOSUB is used to call a subroutine, which is a separate section of code that can be called from anywhere in the program. After the subroutine is finished, the program returns to the point where it was called. GOTO, on the other hand, is used to jump to a specific point in the program without the intention of returning.

How would you implement a loop in Business Basic?

You can implement a loop in Business Basic using the FOR...NEXT statement. For example, 'FOR I = 1 TO 10' would start a loop that iterates 10 times.

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What you’re looking for early on

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of Business Basic?

Has the candidate demonstrated problem-solving skills?

Is the candidate able to communicate effectively?

Does the candidate have experience with other programming languages?

Next 20 minutes

Specific Business Basic 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 control structures available in Business Basic?

Business Basic supports several control structures including IF...THEN...ELSE for conditional execution, FOR...NEXT for loops, and GOSUB...RETURN for subroutines.

How would you handle errors in Business Basic?

You can handle errors in Business Basic using the ON ERROR GOTO statement, which allows you to specify a section of code to be executed when an error occurs.

Describe the difference between a function and a subroutine in Business Basic.

A function is a section of code that returns a value, while a subroutine is a section of code that performs a task but does not return a value.

How would you read and write data from a file in Business Basic?

You can use the OPEN statement to open a file, the READ or INPUT statement to read data, and the WRITE or PRINT statement to write data.

What are the string manipulation functions available in Business Basic?

Business Basic provides several string manipulation functions including LEN for getting the length of a string, MID for extracting a substring, and STR for converting a number to a string.

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

What does the following Business Basic code do?
PRINT 'Hello, World!'
This code prints the string 'Hello, World!' to the console.
What does the following Business Basic code do?
LET A = 10
LET B = 20
LET C = A + B
PRINT C
This code declares two variables A and B, assigns them the values 10 and 20 respectively, adds them together and assigns the result to variable C, then prints the value of C, which will be 30.
What does the following Business Basic code do?
DIM A(10)
FOR I = 1 TO 10
LET A(I) = I * 10
NEXT I
This code declares an array A with 10 elements. It then uses a FOR loop to assign each element in the array a value which is 10 times its index.
What does the following Business Basic code do?
LET A = 1
LET B = 2
SWAP A, B
This code declares two variables A and B, assigns them the values 1 and 2 respectively, then swaps their values. After the SWAP statement, A will be 2 and B will be 1.

Wrap-up questions

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

How would you implement recursion in Business Basic?

You can implement recursion in Business Basic by having a subroutine call itself. However, you need to be careful to include a condition to terminate the recursion, otherwise it will continue indefinitely.

Describe the difference between local and global variables in Business Basic.

Local variables are declared within a subroutine and can only be accessed within that subroutine. Global variables are declared outside of any subroutine and can be accessed from anywhere in the program.

How would you handle arrays in Business Basic?

You can declare an array in Business Basic using the DIM statement. You can then access the elements of the array using their index.

Business Basic application related

Product Perfect's Business Basic development capabilities

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

Business Basic Consultive assessments

Business Basic Application Conversion Assessment Business Basic Application Integration Assessment Business Basic Data & Database Integration Assessment

Custom Business Basic development projects

Custom Business Basic App Conversion Business Basic Custom App Development Process App UI Design for Business Basic Facelifts

Hiring guide for Business Basic Engineers

Business Basic Developer Hiring Guide

What you’re looking for early on

The ideal back-end app developer

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

Business Basic Consultive assessments

Custom Business Basic development projects