Agora Developer Hiring Guide

Hiring Guide for Agora Engineers

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

The Agora programming language is a historical software development tool, first introduced in the 1980s. It was developed by French computer scientist Jacques Arsac as a teaching language for computer science students. The language is known for its simplicity and clarity, making it an ideal introductory tool for novice programmers. Agora's design emphasizes structured programming and data abstraction, aligning with the educational goals of many computer science programs. Information about Agora can be found in Arsac's book "Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science" (1986).

First 20 minutes

General Agora 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 is the purpose of the Agora Token?

The Agora Token is used for authentication. It ensures the security of the communication happening between the users.

How would you handle network quality changes in Agora?

In Agora, you can handle network quality changes by using the 'on' method to listen for the 'network-quality' event. This event provides statistics about the uplink and downlink network conditions.

Describe the difference between 'audience' and 'host' roles in Agora?

In Agora, 'host' is the role for those who publish and subscribe to streams, while 'audience' is the role for those who only subscribe to streams. The 'audience' cannot publish streams.

What are the primary components of the Agora SDK?

The primary components of the Agora SDK are the RTC (Real-Time Communication) client, which handles the connection, and the RTC tracks, which handle the audio and video streams.

How would you initialize the Agora SDK in a JavaScript project?

To initialize the Agora SDK, you need to first import the Agora SDK using 'import AgoraRTC from 'agora-rtc-sdk-ng';'. Then, create a client instance using 'const client = AgoraRTC.createClient({ mode: 'rtc', codec: 'vp8' });'.

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What youre looking for early-on

Has the candidate demonstrated strong communication skills?

Communication skills are important in any role. They need to be able to effectively communicate with team members and possibly clients.

Does the candidate have a good understanding of APIs and how to integrate them?

Agora's services are accessed through their APIs. A good understanding of how to use and integrate APIs is therefore important.

Can the candidate problem solve effectively?

Problem-solving skills are vital in any development role. They need to be able to troubleshoot and solve issues that may arise during development.

Does the candidate have experience with real-time engagement (RTE) applications?

Experience with RTE applications is important as Agora's main use case is in developing real-time engagement applications.

Is the candidate proficient in at least one of the programming languages supported by Agora?

Agora supports a variety of programming languages such as Java, C++, Swift, and JavaScript. Proficiency in at least one of these languages is crucial.

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of Agora SDK?

This is essential as the primary role of an Agora developer is to work with the Agora SDK to build real-time engagement applications.

Next 20 minutes

Specific Agora 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 handle stream fallback in Agora?

In Agora, you can handle stream fallback by using the 'setStreamFallbackOption' method. This method sets the fallback option for the subscribed video stream based on the network conditions.

Describe the difference between 'communication' and 'live-broadcasting' mode in Agora?

In 'communication' mode, all users can publish and subscribe to streams. In 'live-broadcasting' mode, users have roles (host or audience) and only the host can publish streams.

What are the steps to implement screen sharing in Agora?

To implement screen sharing in Agora, you need to create a screen-sharing track using 'AgoraRTC.createScreenVideoTrack', then publish the track using the 'client.publish' method.

How would you handle audio mixing in Agora?

In Agora, you can handle audio mixing by using the 'startAudioMixing' method. This method plays the specified music file while simultaneously sending the music and the microphone streams.

Describe the difference between 'push' and 'pull' CDN live streaming in Agora?

In 'push' CDN live streaming, the Agora SDK sends the streams to the CDN. In 'pull' CDN live streaming, the CDN pulls the streams from the Agora SD-RTN.

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The ideal back-end app developer

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

At this point, the candidate should have demonstrated strong technical skills with Agora's real-time engagement platform, problem-solving abilities, and excellent communication skills. Red flags might include lack of experience with video, voice or messaging applications, or inability to articulate complex concepts clearly.

Digging deeper

Code questions

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

What does this simple Agora code snippet do?

RtcEngine engine = RtcEngine.create(getContext(), APP_ID, eventHandler);

This code snippet creates an instance of the RtcEngine class. This instance represents the Agora RTC engine.

What does this Agora syntax do?

engine.joinChannel(null, 'test', 'Extra Optional Data', 0);

This code snippet makes the local user join a specific channel. 'test' is the channel name, 'Extra Optional Data' is optional data that can be passed into the channel, and '0' is the user ID.

What will be the output of this Agora code related to collection manipulation?

IRtcEngineEventHandler handler = new IRtcEngineEventHandler() {
  @Override
  public void onUserJoined(int uid, int elapsed) {
    userList.add(uid);
  }
};

This code snippet defines an event handler that adds the user ID of any new user who joins the channel to a collection named 'userList'.

What does this Agora code snippet related to threading do?

engine.setParameters('{"che.audio.keep.audiosession": true}');

This code snippet sets the audio session active in the background. This allows the Agora engine to maintain the audio session when the app is running in the background, which is a form of concurrency.

What does this Agora code snippet related to class design do?

public class MyAgoraHandler extends IRtcEngineEventHandler {
  @Override
  public void onJoinChannelSuccess(String channel, int uid, int elapsed) {
    super.onJoinChannelSuccess(channel, uid, elapsed);
  }
}

This code snippet defines a new class 'MyAgoraHandler' that extends the 'IRtcEngineEventHandler'. The 'onJoinChannelSuccess' method is overridden in this class, which will be called when the local user successfully joins the channel.

What will be the output of this advanced Agora code?

engine.enableAudioVolumeIndication(200, 3, false);
engine.setLocalVoicePitch(1.5);

This code snippet first enables the SDK to regularly report on which users are speaking and the speakers' volume, with the report updated every 200 ms and the smoothness set to 3. The second line sets the local voice pitch to 1.5.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Agora role questions

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

How would you optimize the video quality in Agora?

In Agora, you can optimize the video quality by setting the video profile using the 'setVideoProfile' method. This method allows you to set the resolution, frame rate, and bitrate of the video.

What are the steps to implement video encryption in Agora?

To implement video encryption in Agora, you need to enable encryption using the 'enableEncryption' method, then set the encryption mode and secret using the 'setEncryptionSecret' and 'setEncryptionMode' methods.

How would you handle errors in Agora?

In Agora, you can handle errors by using the 'catch' method. This method catches any errors that occur when calling Agora methods and allows you to handle them appropriately.

Describe the difference between 'join' and 'leave' methods in Agora?

The 'join' method is used to join a channel, while the 'leave' method is used to leave the channel. When a user joins a channel, they can publish and subscribe to streams. When they leave, they can no longer publish or subscribe to streams.

What is the function of the 'AgoraRTC.createMicrophoneAudioTrack' method?

The 'AgoraRTC.createMicrophoneAudioTrack' method is used to create a local audio track representing a microphone audio. This can be used for publishing the audio.

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Agora application related

Product Perfect's Agora development capabilities

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

Agora Consultive assessments

Custom Agora development projects

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