Hiring guide for Oberon-07 Engineers

Oberon-07 Developer Hiring Guide

Oberon-07 is a computer programming language developed by Niklaus Wirth and Jürg Gutknecht at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in 2007. It is an evolution of the original Oberon language, which was created in 1986 as part of the Oberon operating system project. The '07' version simplifies and streamlines its predecessor's syntax, making it more accessible for modern programmers. Despite its simplicity, Oberon-07 maintains powerful features such as type-safe modules and garbage collection. Its design principles emphasize readability over writeability, promoting clear and maintainable code.

Ask the right questions secure the right Oberon-07 talent among an increasingly shrinking pool of talent.

First 20 minutes

General Oberon-07 app knowledge and experience

The first 20 minutes of the interview should seek to understand the candidate's general background in Oberon-07 application development, including their experience with various programming languages, databases, and their approach to designing scalable and maintainable systems.

How would you define the Oberon-07 programming language?
Oberon-07 is a general-purpose programming language that was developed in the late 2000s. It is an updated version of the original Oberon language, which was developed in the 1980s. Oberon-07 is designed to be simple, efficient, and powerful, with a focus on safety and readability.
What are the basic data types in Oberon-07?
The basic data types in Oberon-07 are INTEGER, REAL, BOOLEAN, CHAR, and SET.
Describe the difference between a record and an array in Oberon-07.
A record in Oberon-07 is a complex data type that allows you to combine data items of different kinds. An array, on the other hand, is a data type that allows you to store multiple items of the same kind.
How would you write a simple 'Hello, World!' program in Oberon-07?
You would write it as follows: MODULE Hello; BEGIN Out.String('Hello, World!'); Out.Ln; END Hello.
What are the control structures available in Oberon-07?
The control structures available in Oberon-07 are IF, CASE, WHILE, REPEAT, FOR, and LOOP.
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What you’re looking for early on

Does the candidate possess a strong understanding of Oberon-07 syntax and semantics?
Has the candidate demonstrated problem-solving skills?
Is the candidate familiar with the development environment and tools commonly used with Oberon-07?
Has the candidate shown an ability to work in a team?

Next 20 minutes

Specific Oberon-07 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 define a procedure in Oberon-07?
A procedure in Oberon-07 is defined using the PROCEDURE keyword, followed by the name of the procedure, a list of parameters in parentheses, and the body of the procedure enclosed in BEGIN and END.
Describe the difference between the DIV and MOD operators in Oberon-07.
The DIV operator in Oberon-07 performs integer division, while the MOD operator returns the remainder of integer division.
How would you handle exceptions in Oberon-07?
Oberon-07 does not have built-in support for exception handling. However, you can implement your own exception handling mechanism using the standard control structures.
What are the rules for identifier naming in Oberon-07?
Identifiers in Oberon-07 must start with a letter and can contain letters, digits, and underscores. They are case-sensitive.
Describe the difference between the IN and IS operators in Oberon-07.
The IN operator in Oberon-07 is used to check if a value is in a set, while the IS operator is used to check if an object is of a certain type.
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The ideal back-end app developer

What you’re looking to see on the Oberon-07 engineer at this point.

At this point, a skilled Oberon-07 engineer should demonstrate strong problem-solving abilities, proficiency in Oberon-07 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 Oberon-07.

What does this simple Oberon-07 code do?
MODULE Hello;
BEGIN
  Out.String('Hello, World!');
  Out.Ln;
END Hello.
This code prints 'Hello, World!' to the standard output.
What does this Oberon-07 code do?
MODULE Variables;
VAR
  x: INTEGER;
BEGIN
  x := 5;
  Out.Int(x, 0);
  Out.Ln;
END Variables.
This code declares an integer variable 'x', assigns the value 5 to it, and then prints the value of 'x' to the standard output.
What will be the output of this Oberon-07 code?
MODULE ArrayExample;
VAR
  arr: ARRAY 5 OF INTEGER;
  i: INTEGER;
BEGIN
  FOR i := 0 TO 4 DO
    arr[i] := i * i;
  END;
  FOR i := 0 TO 4 DO
    Out.Int(arr[i], 0);
    Out.Ln;
  END;
END ArrayExample.
This code will output the squares of the numbers from 0 to 4, each on a new line.
What does this Oberon-07 code do?
MODULE ThreadExample;
VAR
  t: Threads.Thread;
BEGIN
  t := Threads.Create(Proc, 1024);
  Threads.Start(t);
END ThreadExample.

PROCEDURE Proc;
BEGIN
  Out.String('Hello from thread!');
  Out.Ln;
END Proc.
This code creates a new thread and starts it. The new thread executes the procedure 'Proc', which prints 'Hello from thread!' to the standard output.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Oberon-07 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 Oberon-07 application deployments. Inquire about their experience in handling system failures and their approach to debugging and troubleshooting.

How would you implement polymorphism in Oberon-07?
Polymorphism in Oberon-07 can be implemented using type-bound procedures, which are procedures that are associated with a specific type and can be overridden in derived types.
What are the rules for type compatibility in Oberon-07?
In Oberon-07, a variable of a certain type can be assigned a value of another type only if the other type is the same or a subtype of the variable's type.
Describe the difference between static and dynamic typing in Oberon-07.
Oberon-07 is a statically typed language, which means that the type of a variable is known at compile time. This is in contrast to dynamically typed languages, where the type of a variable can change at runtime.

Oberon-07 application related

Product Perfect's Oberon-07 development capabilities

Beyond hiring for your Oberon-07 engineering team, you may be in the market for additional help. Product Perfect provides seasoned expertise in Oberon-07 projects, and can engage in multiple capacities.