Product Perfect

Cadence SKILL is a proprietary, Lisp-based programming language developed by Cadence Design Systems. It is used primarily for automating design tasks in the electronic design automation (EDA) industry. SKILL has features such as object-oriented programming, garbage collection, exception handling and it supports multi-threading which makes it quite powerful and flexible for designing integrated circuits. Cadence's primary software suite uses the SKILL language extensively for customization and automation tasks making it an essential tool for professionals who work with Cadence's EDA solutions.

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

First 20 minutes

General Cadence SKILL app knowledge and experience

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

How would you define Cadence SKILL?

Cadence SKILL is a Lisp-based programming language used in the Cadence Virtuoso layout suite.

What are the basic data types in Cadence SKILL?

The basic data types in Cadence SKILL are integer, real, string, symbol, list, and structure.

How would you create a function in Cadence SKILL?

A function in Cadence SKILL can be created using the 'defun' keyword followed by the function name, arguments, and body.

What is the purpose of the 'setq' function in Cadence SKILL?

'setq' is used to assign a value to a variable in Cadence SKILL.

Describe the difference between 'let' and 'let*' in Cadence SKILL.

'let' and 'let*' are used to declare local variables in Cadence SKILL. The difference is that 'let*' evaluates the variables in sequence, allowing each variable to use the value of the variables declared before it.

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What you’re looking for early on

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of Cadence SKILL language?

Has the candidate demonstrated problem-solving skills?

Is the candidate familiar with the Cadence Virtuoso platform?

Has the candidate shown the ability to work as part of a team?

Next 20 minutes

Specific Cadence SKILL 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.

How would you handle errors in Cadence SKILL?

Errors in Cadence SKILL can be handled using the 'catch' and 'throw' functions. 'catch' sets up a place to catch exceptions, while 'throw' signals an exception.

What are the control structures available in Cadence SKILL?

The control structures available in Cadence SKILL include 'if', 'cond', 'case', 'when', 'unless', 'while', 'for', 'dolist', and 'dotimes'.

How would you manipulate lists in Cadence SKILL?

Lists in Cadence SKILL can be manipulated using functions like 'car' (returns the first element), 'cdr' (returns all but the first element), 'cons' (adds an element to the front), 'append' (combines two lists), and 'reverse' (reverses the list).

Describe the difference between 'equal' and 'eq' in Cadence SKILL.

'equal' and 'eq' are used to compare two values in Cadence SKILL. 'equal' checks if the values are structurally equivalent, while 'eq' checks if they are the same object.

How would you interact with the file system in Cadence SKILL?

The file system can be interacted with in Cadence SKILL using functions like 'open' (opens a file), 'close' (closes a file), 'read' (reads from a file), and 'write' (writes to a file).

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

What does the following SKILL code do?
(defun simpleAdd (a b) (+ a b))
This code defines a function called 'simpleAdd' that takes two arguments, 'a' and 'b', and returns their sum.
What will be the output of the following SKILL code?
(setq myList '(1 2 3 4 5)) (car myList)
The output of this code will be '1'. The 'setq' function is used to set the value of 'myList' to a list of numbers. The 'car' function then returns the first element of 'myList', which is '1'.
What does the following SKILL code do?
(defun reverseList (myList) (reverse myList))
This code defines a function called 'reverseList' that takes a list 'myList' as an argument and returns a new list which is the reverse of 'myList'.
What does the following SKILL code do?
(defun threadedFunction (a b) (mt:mt_fork (lambda () (+ a b))))
This code defines a function called 'threadedFunction' that takes two arguments, 'a' and 'b', and creates a new thread to compute their sum. The 'mt:mt_fork' function is used to create a new thread.

Wrap-up questions

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

What are the ways to create a new layer in Cadence SKILL?

A new layer in Cadence SKILL can be created using the 'dbCreateLayer' function or by using the 'dbOpenCellViewByType' function to open a cellview and then using 'dbCreateLayer' to create the layer.

How would you create a PCell in Cadence SKILL?

A PCell in Cadence SKILL can be created using the 'dbCreatePCell' function, which takes a cellview and a list of parameters as arguments.

Describe the difference between 'dbOpenCellView' and 'dbOpenCellViewByType' in Cadence SKILL.

'dbOpenCellView' and 'dbOpenCellViewByType' are used to open a cellview in Cadence SKILL. The difference is that 'dbOpenCellViewByType' allows you to specify the type of the cellview.

Cadence SKILL application related

Product Perfect's Cadence SKILL development capabilities

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

Cadence SKILL Consultive assessments

Cadence SKILL Application Conversion Assessment Cadence SKILL Application Integration Assessment Cadence SKILL Data & Database Integration Assessment

Custom Cadence SKILL development projects

Custom Cadence SKILL App Conversion Cadence SKILL Custom App Development Process App UI Design for Cadence SKILL Facelifts

Hiring guide for Cadence SKILL Engineers

Cadence SKILL Developer Hiring Guide

What you’re looking for early on

The ideal back-end app developer

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

Cadence SKILL Consultive assessments

Custom Cadence SKILL development projects