BLISS Developer Hiring Guide

Hiring Guide for BLISS Engineers

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

Bliss was a programming language designed by Tony Hoare and Christopher Strachey in the early 1970s. It was intended to be a simple, efficient, and portable language that could be used to write both system software and applications. Bliss was never widely adopted, but it influenced the design of later languages such as Ada and C++. Sources: - [Tony Hoare's website](https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~tjh1000/) - [Christopher Strachey's website](https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~lucy10/strachey/) - [The Bliss programming language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliss_(programming_language))

First 20 minutes

General BLISS 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 a loop in BLISS?

In BLISS, you can implement a loop using the 'DO' statement. For example, 'DO I = 1 TO 10' creates a loop that runs 10 times.

Describe the difference between 'OWN' and 'GLOBAL' in BLISS.

'OWN' is used to declare a variable that retains its value between function calls, while 'GLOBAL' is used to declare a variable that is accessible from all parts of the program.

What is the purpose of the 'FORWARD' statement in BLISS?

The 'FORWARD' statement in BLISS is used to declare a function or routine that is defined later in the code.

How would you declare a variable in BLISS?

In BLISS, you declare a variable using the keyword 'OWN'. For example, 'OWN X;' declares a variable named X.

What are the basic data types in BLISS?

The basic data types in BLISS are integer, real, boolean, character, and pointer.

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What youre looking for early-on

Does the candidate demonstrate a willingness to learn and adapt?

The tech industry is constantly evolving. A good candidate should demonstrate a willingness to learn new technologies and adapt to changing environments.

Can the candidate communicate effectively?

Communication skills are vital in any team-based work environment. The candidate should be able to articulate their thoughts clearly and effectively, both in writing and verbally.

Does the candidate have experience with other programming languages?

While expertise in BLISS is essential, experience with other languages can be beneficial. It can indicate a broader understanding of programming concepts and an ability to learn new technologies.

Is the candidate able to solve complex problems?

Problem-solving skills are crucial in software development. The candidate should be able to demonstrate their ability to tackle complex problems and come up with effective solutions.

How well does the candidate understand software development methodologies?

A good BLISS developer should be familiar with various development methodologies like Agile, Scrum, etc. This knowledge is important for effective team collaboration and project management.

Does the candidate have a strong understanding of BLISS language?

This is crucial because the candidate will be working extensively with BLISS. They should be able to demonstrate a deep understanding of the language, its syntax, and its use cases.

Next 20 minutes

Specific BLISS 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 function in BLISS?

In BLISS, you can define a function using the 'ROUTINE' keyword. For example, 'ROUTINE ADD(X, Y) = (RETURN X + Y;);' defines a function that adds two numbers.

Describe the difference between 'BEGIN' and 'MODULE' in BLISS.

'BEGIN' is used to start a block of code, while 'MODULE' is used to define a new module or program in BLISS.

What is the purpose of the 'REQUIRE' statement in BLISS?

The 'REQUIRE' statement in BLISS is used to include external files or libraries in the program.

How would you handle errors in BLISS?

In BLISS, you can handle errors using the 'EXCEPTION' statement. You can define an exception handler and use the 'SIGNAL' statement to raise an exception.

What are the conditional statements in BLISS?

The conditional statements in BLISS are 'IF', 'ELSE', 'THEN', 'CASE', and 'WHEN'.

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The ideal back-end app developer

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

A skilled BLISS engineer should demonstrate profound knowledge of the language, problem-solving abilities, and experience working on large projects. Red flags include inability to explain complex BLISS concepts, lack of hands-on experience or difficulty in logical thinking.

Digging deeper

Code questions

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

What does this simple BLISS code do?

BEGIN
EXTERNAL ROUTINE PRINT;
PRINT('Hello, World!');
END;

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

What does this BLISS code do?

BEGIN
OWN X = 10;
X = X + 5;
END;

This code declares a variable X, assigns it a value of 10, and then increments the value of X by 5.

What will be the output of this BLISS code?

BEGIN
OWN ARRAY X[5] = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
X[2] = X[2] + X[3];
END;

This code declares an array X with 5 elements, assigns values to the elements, and then increments the value of the third element by the value of the fourth element. The output will be the updated array.

What does this BLISS code do?

BEGIN
OWN X = 0;
WHILE X < 10 DO
BEGIN
X = X + 1;
END;
END;

This code declares a variable X, assigns it a value of 0, and then increments the value of X by 1 in a loop until X is no longer less than 10.

What does this BLISS code do?

BEGIN
EXTERNAL ROUTINE PRINT;
OWN X = 0;
WHILE X < 10 DO
BEGIN
X = X + 1;
PRINT(X);
END;
END;

This code declares a variable X, assigns it a value of 0, and then increments the value of X by 1 in a loop until X is no longer less than 10. In each iteration of the loop, it prints the current value of X.

What will be the output of this BLISS code?

BEGIN
OWN X = 0;
WHILE X < 10 DO
BEGIN
X = X + 1;
IF X MOD 2 = 0 THEN PRINT(X);
END;
END;

This code declares a variable X, assigns it a value of 0, and then increments the value of X by 1 in a loop until X is no longer less than 10. In each iteration of the loop, if X is even, it prints the current value of X. The output will be the even numbers from 2 to 10.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for BLISS role questions

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

How would you optimize a BLISS program for performance?

Optimizing a BLISS program for performance can involve various strategies, such as minimizing the use of global variables, avoiding unnecessary computations inside loops, using the appropriate data structures, and taking advantage of compiler optimizations.

Describe the difference between 'ROUTINE' and 'FORWARD ROUTINE' in BLISS.

'ROUTINE' is used to define a function, while 'FORWARD ROUTINE' is used to declare a function that is defined later in the code.

What is the purpose of the 'BIND' statement in BLISS?

The 'BIND' statement in BLISS is used to create a constant. Once a value is bound to a name using 'BIND', it cannot be changed.

How would you implement recursion in BLISS?

In BLISS, you can implement recursion by having a function call itself. You need to ensure there is a base case to prevent infinite recursion.

What are the different ways to pass parameters in BLISS?

In BLISS, you can pass parameters by value or by reference. By value means the function receives a copy of the value, and by reference means the function receives a reference to the original variable.

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BLISS application related

Product Perfect's BLISS development capabilities

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