Amiga E Developer Hiring Guide

Hiring Guide for Amiga E Engineers

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

Amiga E, also known simply as E, is a programming language created by Wouter van Oortmerssen in the early 1990s for the Amiga personal computer. It is a procedural language with some object-oriented features, and its syntax is similar to that of C and Pascal. The language was designed to be efficient and powerful, with a strong emphasis on the production of compact, fast-executing code. Despite its niche status, Amiga E has a dedicated following and continues to be used in the Amiga community. Information about Amiga E can be found in various online resources, including the Amiga E website and the E Language Reference Manual.

First 20 minutes

General Amiga E 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.

How would you implement exception handling in Amiga E?

Exception handling in Amiga E is implemented using the TRY, EXCEPT and ENDTRY keywords. The code that could potentially throw an exception is placed between TRY and EXCEPT, and the code to handle the exception is placed between EXCEPT and ENDTRY.

What is the purpose of the MODULE keyword in Amiga E?

The MODULE keyword is used to create a module, which is a collection of related procedures and functions.

Describe the difference between the DEF and CONST keywords in Amiga E.

DEF is used to declare a variable, while CONST is used to declare a constant. Variables can be changed after they are declared, but constants cannot.

How would you declare a function in Amiga E?

In Amiga E, a function is declared using the PROC keyword, followed by the function name and parameters in parentheses.

What are the basic data types in Amiga E?

The basic data types in Amiga E are INT, CHAR, BOOL, ENUM, LIST, and OBJECT.

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What youre looking for early-on

Is the candidate enthusiastic about the role and the company?

Enthusiasm can indicate that the candidate is genuinely interested in the role and the company. This can lead to higher job satisfaction and better performance.

Has the candidate demonstrated good communication skills?

Communication is key in any role. The candidate needs to be able to effectively communicate with team members, managers, and potentially clients.

Does the candidate have any experience with software development projects?

Previous experience with software development projects can be a good indicator of the candidate's ability to manage tasks, meet deadlines, and work as part of a team.

Has the candidate shown experience with other programming languages?

While the focus is on Amiga E, having experience with other languages can be beneficial. It can show a broader understanding of programming concepts and versatility.

Can the candidate demonstrate problem-solving skills?

Software development often involves encountering and resolving unexpected issues. A good developer should be able to demonstrate their ability to troubleshoot and solve problems.

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of Amiga E language?

This is crucial as the role is specifically for an Amiga E developer. Their knowledge and understanding of the language will directly impact their ability to perform in the role.

Next 20 minutes

Specific Amiga E 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 implement inheritance in Amiga E?

Inheritance in Amiga E is implemented using the OBJECT keyword to create a new class, and the EXTENDS keyword to indicate that the new class inherits from an existing class.

What is the purpose of the NEW keyword in Amiga E?

The NEW keyword in Amiga E is used to create a new instance of an object.

Describe the difference between the AND and OR keywords in Amiga E.

AND and OR are logical operators. AND returns true if both operands are true, while OR returns true if at least one of the operands is true.

How would you create a loop in Amiga E?

In Amiga E, a loop can be created using the FOR, WHILE, or UNTIL keywords. FOR is used for loops that execute a specific number of times, WHILE for loops that execute until a condition is false, and UNTIL for loops that execute until a condition is true.

What are the uses of the IF and ELSE keywords in Amiga E?

The IF and ELSE keywords are used to create conditional statements. The code block following the IF keyword is executed if the condition is true, and the code block following the ELSE keyword is executed if the condition is false.

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The ideal back-end app developer

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

The candidate should have a deep understanding of Amiga E language, proficient problem-solving abilities, and excellent debugging skills. Red flags would be lack of experience with Amiga systems or inability to articulate complex coding processes clearly.

Digging deeper

Code questions

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

What does this simple Amiga E code do?

PROC main()
  WriteF('Hello, World!')
ENDPROC

This code prints 'Hello, World!' to the console.

What does this Amiga E code do?

PROC main()
  DEF a
  a:=5
  WriteF('Value of a is %d', a)
ENDPROC

This code declares a variable 'a', assigns the value 5 to it, and then prints 'Value of a is 5' to the console.

What will be the output of this Amiga E code that manipulates an array?

PROC main()
  DEF arr[5]:=[1,2,3,4,5]
  FOR i:=0 TO 4 DO
    WriteF('%d', arr[i])
  ENDFOR
ENDPROC

This code declares an array 'arr' of 5 elements, assigns values from 1 to 5 to it, and then prints each element of the array to the console. So the output will be '12345'.

What does this Amiga E code do that involves threading?

PROC main()
  DEF a:=NewProcess('PROC child() WriteF('Child process') ENDPROC')
  WriteF('Parent process')
  WaitProcess(a)
ENDPROC

This code creates a new child process that prints 'Child process' to the console. The main (parent) process prints 'Parent process' to the console and then waits for the child process to finish.

What does this Amiga E code do that involves class design?

OBJECT o
  a
  PROC init(n) a:=n ENDP
  PROC print() WriteF('a is %d', a) ENDP
ENDOBJECT
PROC main()
  DEF obj:=NEW o
  obj\init(5)
  obj\print()
ENDPROC

This code defines a class 'o' with a field 'a' and two methods 'init' and 'print'. The 'init' method initializes 'a' with a given value and the 'print' method prints the value of 'a'. In the main procedure, an object of class 'o' is created, 'a' is initialized to 5, and then the value of 'a' is printed to the console.

What will be the output of this advanced Amiga E code?

PROC main()
  DEF a:=5, b:=10
  Swap(a, b)
  WriteF('a is %d, b is %d', a, b)
ENDPROC
PROC Swap(x, y)
  DEF temp:=x
  x:=y
  y:=temp
ENDPROC

This code declares two variables 'a' and 'b', swaps their values using the 'Swap' procedure, and then prints the values of 'a' and 'b'. So the output will be 'a is 10, b is 5'.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Amiga E role questions

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

What are the uses of the STATIC and FINAL keywords in Amiga E?

STATIC members belong to the class itself rather than instances of the class, and FINAL members cannot be overridden in a subclass.

How would you implement polymorphism in Amiga E?

Polymorphism in Amiga E is implemented using the OVERRIDE keyword to change the behavior of a method in a subclass.

What is the purpose of the RESULT keyword in Amiga E?

The RESULT keyword is used to specify the value that a function returns.

Describe the difference between the = and == operators in Amiga E.

The = operator is used for assignment, while the == operator is used for comparison.

What are the uses of the PRIVATE and PUBLIC keywords in Amiga E?

PRIVATE and PUBLIC are access modifiers. PRIVATE members of a class are only accessible within that class, while PUBLIC members are accessible from outside the class.

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Amiga E application related

Product Perfect's Amiga E development capabilities

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