Ada 83 Developer Hiring Guide

Hiring Guide for Ada 83 Engineers

Ask the right questions to secure the right Ada 83 talent among an increasingly shrinking pool of talent.

Ada 83 is a high-level computer programming language developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s as part of the United States Department of Defense's (DoD) initiative to standardize its embedded systems software ("Ada (programming language)", Wikipedia). Named after Ada Lovelace, it was designed with an emphasis on software engineering principles, providing strong typing, run-time checking, parallel processing, exception handling and generics ("What is Ada?", Adacore). The first approved version of this language was known as Ada 83 because it was approved by ANSI in December 1983 ("History", Adacore). Despite being initially used primarily for defense projects due to its robustness and reliability features, its use has expanded into other areas such as avionics and transportation systems. Today, while newer versions like Ada 95 and Ada 2005 have been released with additional features, the foundational principles established in Ada 83 continue to influence modern programming paradigms.

First 20 minutes

General Ada 83 knowledge and experience

The next 20 minutes of the interview should attempt to focus more specifically on the development questions used, and the level of depth and skill the engineer possesses.

What are packages in Ada 83 and how would you use them?

Packages in Ada 83 are used to group related declarations which can be types, variables, constants, exceptions, subprograms, etc. They provide a way to encapsulate and organize code and data.

How would you handle exceptions in Ada 83?

In Ada 83, exceptions are handled using the keywords 'begin', 'exception' and 'when'. You can define your own exceptions, raise them using the 'raise' keyword, and handle them in the exception part of a block.

Describe the difference between a procedure and a function in Ada 83.

In Ada 83, a procedure is a subprogram that performs an action and does not return a value, while a function is a subprogram that returns a value. The main difference is that functions return values and procedures do not.

What are some of the basic data types in Ada 83?

Ada 83 provides several basic data types including Integer, Float, Character, Boolean, and others. It also allows for the creation of user-defined types.

How would you declare an array in Ada 83?

In Ada 83, you can declare an array using the type keyword followed by the array name, the range, and the type of elements the array will hold. For example: 'Type My_Array is array (1..10) of Integer;'.

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What youre looking for early-on

Does the candidate show a willingness to learn and adapt?

Technology is always evolving, so it's important for developers to be open to learning new things and adapting to changes.

Is the candidate able to communicate effectively about technical concepts?

Communication is key in a development team, so they need to be able to explain their work and thought processes clearly.

Does the candidate show a good understanding of software development principles and practices?

Even though the focus is on Ada 83, general software development skills are still important.

Can the candidate effectively debug Ada 83 code?

Debugging is a key skill for any developer, and it's important they can do this in Ada 83.

Has the candidate demonstrated experience with Ada 83 in previous roles or projects?

Practical experience is important as it shows they can apply their knowledge in real-world situations.

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of Ada 83 syntax and semantics?

This is crucial as it forms the basis of their ability to write and understand Ada 83 code.

Next 20 minutes

Specific Ada 83 development questions

The next 20 minutes of the interview should attempt to focus more specifically on the development questions used, and the level of depth and skill the engineer possesses.

How would you define a record in Ada 83?

A record in Ada 83 can be defined using the 'type' and 'record' keywords. It is a composite data type that allows the grouping of data of different types.

Describe the difference between 'and then' and 'or else' in Ada 83.

'And then' is a short-circuit version of 'and' which does not evaluate the second operand if the first is false. 'Or else' is a short-circuit version of 'or' which does not evaluate the second operand if the first is true.

What are some of the control structures available in Ada 83?

Ada 83 provides several control structures including sequential, selection (if and case statements), repetition (loop, while, for), and exception handling.

How would you implement recursion in Ada 83?

Recursion in Ada 83 can be implemented by having a procedure or function call itself. The base case should be defined to prevent infinite recursion.

Describe the difference between 'in', 'out', and 'in out' parameters in Ada 83.

'In' parameters allow data to be passed into a procedure or function. 'Out' parameters allow data to be returned from a procedure or function. 'In out' parameters allow data to be passed into and returned from a procedure or function.

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The ideal back-end app developer

What you’re looking to see on the Ada 83 engineer at this point.

At this point, a skilled Ada 83 engineer should demonstrate strong proficiency in Ada 83 programming, understanding of real-time systems and experience with software testing. Red flags include inability to explain complex concepts clearly or lack of practical experience using the language in relevant projects.

Digging deeper

Code questions

These will help you see the candidate's real-world development capabilities with Ada 83.

What does this simple Ada 83 code do?

with Text_IO; use Text_IO;
procedure Hello is
begin
  Put_Line ('Hello, world!');
end Hello;

This code prints 'Hello, world!' to the standard output.

What is the purpose of this Ada 83 code snippet?

with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Main is
  X : Integer := 10;
begin
  Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line (Integer'Image (X));
end Main;

This code converts the integer X to a string and prints it to the standard output.

What will be the output of this Ada 83 code that manipulates an array?

with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Main is
  type Array_Type is array (1 .. 5) of Integer;
  Array1 : Array_Type := (others => 0);
begin
  for I in Array1'Range loop
    Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line (Integer'Image (Array1 (I)));
  end loop;
end Main;

This code will print the number '0' five times, which are the default values of the elements in the array.

What does this Ada 83 code snippet do related to threading?

with Ada.Text_IO, Ada.Calendar;
procedure Main is
  task type Worker is
    entry Start;
  end Worker;
  task body Worker is
  begin
    accept Start;
    Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ('Worker started');
  end Worker;
  W : Worker;
begin
  W.Start;
end Main;

This code defines a task type 'Worker' with an entry point 'Start'. When 'Start' is called, the task prints 'Worker started' to the standard output.

What does this Ada 83 code do related to class design?

with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Main is
  type My_Type is new Integer;
  X : My_Type := 10;
begin
  Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line (Integer'Image (X));
end Main;

This code defines a new type 'My_Type' based on the 'Integer' type, creates an instance of 'My_Type', assigns the value '10' to it, and then prints this value.

What will be the output of this advanced Ada 83 code?

with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Main is
  procedure Nested is
  begin
    Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ('Nested procedure');
  end Nested;
begin
  Nested;
end Main;

This code defines a nested procedure 'Nested' inside the 'Main' procedure. When the 'Main' procedure is called, it calls the 'Nested' procedure, which prints 'Nested procedure' to the standard output.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Ada 83 role questions

The final few interview questions for a Ada 83 candidate should typically focus on a combination of technical skills, personal goals, growth potential, team dynamics, and company culture.

How would you manage memory manually in Ada 83?

In Ada 83, memory can be managed manually using the 'new' keyword to allocate memory and the 'Unchecked_Deallocation' procedure to deallocate memory. However, this should be done with caution as it can lead to memory leaks or dangling references.

What are the rules for operator overloading in Ada 83?

In Ada 83, operator overloading is done by defining a function with the operator as the function name. The function must have one or two parameters, and the type of at least one parameter must be the type for which the operator is being overloaded.

How would you implement a generic package in Ada 83?

A generic package in Ada 83 can be implemented using the 'generic' keyword followed by the package specification. The generic parameters can be types, subprograms, objects, or values.

Describe the difference between a task and a protected object in Ada 83.

In Ada 83, a task is a type of module that encapsulates a thread of control and its associated data. A protected object is a type of module that encapsulates data and operations on that data, and provides mutual exclusion for those operations.

What are discriminants in Ada 83?

Discriminants in Ada 83 are special components of a record type that can be used to parameterize the type. They allow the creation of variant records, where the components can vary depending on the value of the discriminant.

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Ada 83 application related

Product Perfect's Ada 83 development capabilities

Beyond hiring for your Ada 83 engineering team, you may be in the market for additional help. Product Perfect provides seasoned expertise in Ada 83 projects, and can engage in multiple capacities.

Ada 83 Consultive assessments

Custom Ada 83 development projects

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