Cadence SKILL Developer Hiring Guide

Hiring Guide for Cadence SKILL Engineers

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

Cadence SKILL is a proprietary, Lisp-based programming language developed by Cadence Design Systems. It is used primarily for automating design tasks in the electronic design automation (EDA) industry. SKILL has features such as object-oriented programming, garbage collection, exception handling and it supports multi-threading which makes it quite powerful and flexible for designing integrated circuits. Cadence's primary software suite uses the SKILL language extensively for customization and automation tasks making it an essential tool for professionals who work with Cadence's EDA solutions.

First 20 minutes

General Cadence SKILL 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.

Describe the difference between 'let' and 'let*' in Cadence SKILL.

'let' and 'let*' are used to declare local variables in Cadence SKILL. The difference is that 'let*' evaluates the variables in sequence, allowing each variable to use the value of the variables declared before it.

What is the purpose of the 'setq' function in Cadence SKILL?

'setq' is used to assign a value to a variable in Cadence SKILL.

How would you create a function in Cadence SKILL?

A function in Cadence SKILL can be created using the 'defun' keyword followed by the function name, arguments, and body.

What are the basic data types in Cadence SKILL?

The basic data types in Cadence SKILL are integer, real, string, symbol, list, and structure.

How would you define Cadence SKILL?

Cadence SKILL is a Lisp-based programming language used in the Cadence Virtuoso layout suite.

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What youre looking for early-on

Has the candidate demonstrated good communication skills?

Good communication skills are important for understanding project requirements, collaborating with team members, and explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Does the candidate have experience with scripting and automation?

Experience in these areas is beneficial as they can improve efficiency and productivity in development tasks.

Has the candidate shown the ability to work as part of a team?

Most development projects require team collaboration. The ability to work well in a team environment is therefore crucial.

Is the candidate familiar with the Cadence Virtuoso platform?

Working knowledge of the Cadence Virtuoso platform is important as it is commonly used in conjunction with Cadence SKILL.

Has the candidate demonstrated problem-solving skills?

Problem-solving skills are essential for a developer role as they will often encounter issues that require innovative solutions.

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of Cadence SKILL language?

This is crucial as the job role requires the candidate to work extensively with Cadence SKILL language. Their knowledge and understanding of the language will directly impact their performance.

Next 20 minutes

Specific Cadence SKILL 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 interact with the file system in Cadence SKILL?

The file system can be interacted with in Cadence SKILL using functions like 'open' (opens a file), 'close' (closes a file), 'read' (reads from a file), and 'write' (writes to a file).

Describe the difference between 'equal' and 'eq' in Cadence SKILL.

'equal' and 'eq' are used to compare two values in Cadence SKILL. 'equal' checks if the values are structurally equivalent, while 'eq' checks if they are the same object.

How would you manipulate lists in Cadence SKILL?

Lists in Cadence SKILL can be manipulated using functions like 'car' (returns the first element), 'cdr' (returns all but the first element), 'cons' (adds an element to the front), 'append' (combines two lists), and 'reverse' (reverses the list).

What are the control structures available in Cadence SKILL?

The control structures available in Cadence SKILL include 'if', 'cond', 'case', 'when', 'unless', 'while', 'for', 'dolist', and 'dotimes'.

How would you handle errors in Cadence SKILL?

Errors in Cadence SKILL can be handled using the 'catch' and 'throw' functions. 'catch' sets up a place to catch exceptions, while 'throw' signals an exception.

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The ideal back-end app developer

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

At this point, the candidate should demonstrate deep knowledge about Cadence SKILL language, problem-solving abilities in programming, and experience with EDA tools. Red flags would include lack of specific examples of past projects, inability to articulate complex concepts, or unfamiliarity with key aspects of Cadence software.

Digging deeper

Code questions

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

What does the following SKILL code do?

(defun simpleAdd (a b) (+ a b))

This code defines a function called 'simpleAdd' that takes two arguments, 'a' and 'b', and returns their sum.

What will be the output of the following SKILL code?

(setq myList '(1 2 3 4 5)) (car myList)

The output of this code will be '1'. The 'setq' function is used to set the value of 'myList' to a list of numbers. The 'car' function then returns the first element of 'myList', which is '1'.

What does the following SKILL code do?

(defun reverseList (myList) (reverse myList))

This code defines a function called 'reverseList' that takes a list 'myList' as an argument and returns a new list which is the reverse of 'myList'.

What does the following SKILL code do?

(defun threadedFunction (a b) (mt:mt_fork (lambda () (+ a b))))

This code defines a function called 'threadedFunction' that takes two arguments, 'a' and 'b', and creates a new thread to compute their sum. The 'mt:mt_fork' function is used to create a new thread.

What does the following SKILL code do?

(defclass myClass (a b) (list a b))

This code defines a class called 'myClass' with two properties, 'a' and 'b'. The 'list' function is used to initialize the properties of the class.

What will be the output of the following SKILL code?

(defun advancedFunction (a b) (if (> a b) a b)) (advancedFunction 5 3)

The output of this code will be '5'. The 'advancedFunction' is defined to take two arguments, 'a' and 'b', and return the larger of the two. When 'advancedFunction' is called with arguments '5' and '3', it returns '5' because '5' is greater than '3'.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Cadence SKILL role questions

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

What are the ways to optimize SKILL code performance in Cadence?

SKILL code performance in Cadence can be optimized by minimizing global variable usage, using local variables, avoiding unnecessary computations, using the 'profiler' function to identify bottlenecks, and using compiled functions for critical code sections.

How would you perform geometric operations in Cadence SKILL?

Geometric operations in Cadence SKILL can be performed using functions like 'dbCreateRect', 'dbCreatePolygon', 'dbCreatePath', and 'dbCreateWire'.

Describe the difference between 'dbOpenCellView' and 'dbOpenCellViewByType' in Cadence SKILL.

'dbOpenCellView' and 'dbOpenCellViewByType' are used to open a cellview in Cadence SKILL. The difference is that 'dbOpenCellViewByType' allows you to specify the type of the cellview.

How would you create a PCell in Cadence SKILL?

A PCell in Cadence SKILL can be created using the 'dbCreatePCell' function, which takes a cellview and a list of parameters as arguments.

What are the ways to create a new layer in Cadence SKILL?

A new layer in Cadence SKILL can be created using the 'dbCreateLayer' function or by using the 'dbOpenCellViewByType' function to open a cellview and then using 'dbCreateLayer' to create the layer.

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Cadence SKILL application related

Product Perfect's Cadence SKILL development capabilities

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