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ZetaLisp is a programming language that was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Lawrence G. Tesler and his team at Xerox PARC. It is a variant of the Lisp programming language and was primarily used to develop software for the Xerox Star workstation. ZetaLisp introduced several new features to the Lisp language, such as flavors for object-oriented programming, and futures for parallel computing. It also had a hardware implementation known as Lisp machine lisp, which was used in Lisp machines developed by Xerox and Symbolics. Despite its innovative features, ZetaLisp is not widely used today, but its influence can be seen in other Lisp dialects and in other programming languages.

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

First 20 minutes

General ZetaLisp app knowledge and experience

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

How would you define ZetaLisp?

ZetaLisp is a variant of the Lisp programming language that was developed for the Lisp machines produced by Symbolics.

What are the primary data types in ZetaLisp?

The primary data types in ZetaLisp include integers, floating-point numbers, characters, symbols, conses, arrays, structures, and functions.

How would you create a function in ZetaLisp?

In ZetaLisp, a function can be created using the 'defun' keyword followed by the function name, parameters, and the function body.

What is the role of the 'car' function in ZetaLisp?

The 'car' function in ZetaLisp is used to return the first element of a list.

How would you use the 'cdr' function in ZetaLisp?

The 'cdr' function in ZetaLisp is used to return the remainder of the list after removing the first element.

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What you’re looking for early on

Has the candidate demonstrated a strong understanding of ZetaLisp language?

Does the candidate have experience in using ZetaLisp for software development?

Has the candidate shown the ability to debug and solve problems in ZetaLisp?

Has the candidate displayed knowledge of the best practices in ZetaLisp programming?

Next 20 minutes

Specific ZetaLisp 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 is the purpose of the 'cons' function in ZetaLisp?

The 'cons' function in ZetaLisp is used to create a new list from two arguments, where the first argument is the first element of the new list and the second argument is the remainder of the list.

Describe the difference between 'eq' and 'equal' in ZetaLisp.

'eq' tests whether two symbols or numbers are the same, while 'equal' tests whether two structures have the same shape and contents.

How would you implement recursion in ZetaLisp?

Recursion in ZetaLisp can be implemented by defining a function that calls itself within its own body until a base case is reached.

What are the different types of loops available in ZetaLisp?

ZetaLisp provides several types of loops, including 'do', 'dotimes', 'dolist', and 'loop'.

How would you handle errors in ZetaLisp?

Errors in ZetaLisp can be handled using the 'condition-case' construct, which allows you to specify different actions to take depending on the type of error that occurs.

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

What does the following ZetaLisp code do?
(defun factorial (n) (if (zerop n) 1 (* n (factorial (1- n)))))
This code defines a recursive function to calculate the factorial of a number. If the number is zero, it returns 1. Otherwise, it multiplies the number by the factorial of the number minus one.
What will be the output of the following ZetaLisp code?
(setq x '(1 2 3)) (setq y x) (rplaca y 0) x
The output will be '(0 2 3)'. The code sets 'x' to a list '(1 2 3)', then sets 'y' to the same list. 'rplaca' changes the first element of 'y' to 0, which also changes 'x' because they refer to the same list.
What does the following ZetaLisp code do?
(defun mapcar* (function &rest args) (if (not (apply #'or (mapcar #'null args))) (cons (apply function (mapcar #'car args)) (apply #'mapcar* function (mapcar #'cdr args)))))
This code defines a function 'mapcar*' that applies a given function to each element of the provided lists in parallel and returns a list of the results. It is a generalized version of 'mapcar' that can handle multiple lists of the same length.
What does the following ZetaLisp code do?
(defun make-thread (function) (mp:process-run-function (symbol-name (gensym)) () function))
This code defines a function 'make-thread' that creates a new thread and runs a given function in that thread. 'mp:process-run-function' is a function for creating and starting a new thread.

Wrap-up questions

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

Describe the difference between 'let' and 'let*' in ZetaLisp.

'let' allows you to bind variables to values in parallel, while 'let*' does so in sequence, so that each binding can refer to the ones before it.

What is the purpose of the 'apply' function in ZetaLisp?

The 'apply' function in ZetaLisp is used to call a function with a list of arguments, as if the elements of the list were individual arguments.

How would you use macros in ZetaLisp?

Macros in ZetaLisp can be used to define new syntactic constructs. They are defined using the 'defmacro' keyword and can include any valid ZetaLisp code in their bodies.

ZetaLisp application related

Product Perfect's ZetaLisp development capabilities

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

ZetaLisp Consultive assessments

ZetaLisp Application Conversion Assessment ZetaLisp Application Integration Assessment ZetaLisp Data & Database Integration Assessment

Custom ZetaLisp development projects

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

Hiring guide for ZetaLisp Engineers

ZetaLisp Developer Hiring Guide

What you’re looking for early on

The ideal back-end app developer

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

ZetaLisp Consultive assessments

Custom ZetaLisp development projects