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Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, was a British Crown colony off the southeastern coast of India from 1815 until it gained independence in 1948. The island's rich history includes periods of Portuguese and Dutch colonial rule before its transfer to the British Empire in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Renowned for its production and exportation of tea, rubber, and cinnamon during colonial times, Ceylon played a significant role in global trade networks. Its strategic location also made it a crucial naval base during World War II. This historical information is derived from sources including Encyclopedia Britannica and Cambridge University Press publications on South Asian history.

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

First 20 minutes

General Ceylon app knowledge and experience

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

How would you define a class in Ceylon?

In Ceylon, a class is defined using the 'class' keyword followed by the class name and the class body enclosed in braces. For example: 'class MyClass {}'

What are the basic data types in Ceylon?

Ceylon has several basic data types including Integer, Float, Character, String, Boolean, and Byte.

How would you declare a variable in Ceylon?

In Ceylon, variables are declared using the 'value' keyword for immutable variables and the 'variable' keyword for mutable variables. For example: 'value myValue = 10;' or 'variable myVariable = 10;'

Describe the difference between 'value' and 'variable' in Ceylon.

'value' is used to declare immutable variables in Ceylon, which means their value cannot be changed once assigned. 'variable' is used to declare mutable variables, which means their value can be changed.

How would you define a function in Ceylon?

In Ceylon, a function is defined using the 'function' keyword followed by the function name, parameters in parentheses, and the function body enclosed in braces. For example: 'function myFunction() {}'

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What you’re looking for early on

Has the candidate demonstrated a strong understanding of the Ceylon language?

Does the candidate show a capacity for problem-solving?

Is the candidate able to communicate effectively?

Does the candidate have a good understanding of software development principles?

Next 20 minutes

Specific Ceylon 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 tuples in Ceylon?

Tuples in Ceylon are a type of collection that can hold a fixed number of elements, each with its own type. They are defined using square brackets. For example: '[Integer, String] myTuple = [1, 'hello'];'

How would you handle exceptions in Ceylon?

In Ceylon, exceptions are handled using 'try', 'catch', and 'finally' blocks. The 'try' block contains the code that might throw an exception, the 'catch' block contains the code to handle the exception, and the 'finally' block contains the code that is always executed, whether an exception occurred or not.

Describe the difference between 'assert' and 'assert is' in Ceylon.

'assert' is used to ensure that a certain condition is true at a certain point in the program. 'assert is' is used to ensure that a certain value is of a certain type.

What are higher-order functions in Ceylon?

Higher-order functions in Ceylon are functions that can accept other functions as parameters and/or return other functions as results.

How would you create a generic class in Ceylon?

In Ceylon, a generic class is created by defining a class with one or more type parameters. For example: 'class MyClass {}'

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

What does the following Ceylon code do?
value hello = "Hello, World!";
print(hello);
This code declares a string variable named 'hello' and assigns it the value 'Hello, World!'. It then prints the value of 'hello' to the console.
What will be the output of the following Ceylon code?
value numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
value sum = numbers.reduce(0, plus);
print(sum);
This code declares a set of integers named 'numbers'. It then uses the 'reduce' function to sum up the numbers in the set. The result, which is 15, is then printed to the console.
What does the following Ceylon code do?
value numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
value evens = numbers.filter((Integer i) => i%2==0);
print(evens);
This code declares a set of integers named 'numbers'. It then uses the 'filter' function to create a new set 'evens' that contains only the even numbers from 'numbers'. The 'evens' set is then printed to the console.
What does the following Ceylon code do?
shared void run() {
  for (i in 1..100) {
    print("Thread running: ``process.thread``");
  }
}
This code defines a function 'run' that prints a message to the console 100 times. The message includes the ID of the thread that is currently executing the function.

Wrap-up questions

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

What is the purpose of the 'dynamic' block in Ceylon?

The 'dynamic' block in Ceylon is used to interact with JavaScript code. It allows the Ceylon code to call JavaScript functions and access JavaScript objects.

Describe the difference between 'shared' and 'default' in Ceylon.

'shared' is a keyword in Ceylon that makes a declaration visible to other modules. 'default' is a keyword that specifies a default implementation of an interface method.

What are metamodel expressions in Ceylon?

Metamodel expressions in Ceylon are used to access the model of the program at runtime. They allow you to inspect the types, functions, classes, and other elements of the program.

Ceylon application related

Product Perfect's Ceylon development capabilities

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

Ceylon Consultive assessments

Ceylon Application Conversion Assessment Ceylon Application Integration Assessment Ceylon Data & Database Integration Assessment

Custom Ceylon development projects

Custom Ceylon App Conversion Ceylon Custom App Development Process App UI Design for Ceylon Facelifts

Hiring guide for Ceylon Engineers

Ceylon Developer Hiring Guide

What you’re looking for early on

The ideal back-end app developer

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

Ceylon Consultive assessments

Custom Ceylon development projects