Haxe Developer Hiring Guide

Hiring Guide for Haxe Engineers

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

Haxe is a high-level, cross-platform programming language first introduced in 2005 by its inventor, Nicolas Cannasse. It was developed with the aim to serve as a single language for all platforms, allowing developers to write code once and compile it anywhere (source: Haxe Foundation). The Haxe compiler can output applications targeting JavaScript, Flash Player, Neko VM among others. Its versatility has led it to be utilized in various industries including video game development and web application building (source: GitHub). As of today's digital landscape, Haxe continues evolving while maintaining its core principle of universal applicability.

First 20 minutes

General Haxe 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 abstracts in Haxe and how would you use them?

Abstracts are a type in Haxe that allows you to create a new type based on an existing one, with its own methods and properties. You would use the 'abstract' keyword to declare an abstract.

How would you create a class in Haxe?

You would use the 'class' keyword followed by the name of the class. For example, 'class MyClass { }'. You can then add methods and properties to the class.

Describe the difference between '==' and '===' in Haxe.

In Haxe, '==' is used for equality comparison and '===' is used for identity comparison. '==' checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. '===' checks if two operands refer to the same object or not.

What are the main advantages of using Haxe over other programming languages?

Haxe is a high-level, cross-platform language. It can be compiled to multiple target languages like JavaScript, Python, PHP, C++, and more. This provides a lot of flexibility and reusability of code.

How would you compile a Haxe program to a JavaScript file?

You would use the Haxe compiler with the -js flag, followed by the output filename. For example, 'haxe -js output.js MyProgram'.

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What youre looking for early-on

Can the candidate work well in a team and communicate effectively?

Software development is often a team effort. Therefore, good communication skills and the ability to work in a team are crucial for the candidate to interact effectively with other team members.

How well does the candidate understand programming concepts like OOP, functional programming, etc.?

These are fundamental concepts in programming. A good understanding of these concepts shows the candidate's ability to write efficient, clean, and maintainable code.

Is the candidate comfortable working with different Haxe frameworks?

Familiarity with different Haxe frameworks like OpenFL, Kha, HaxeFlixel, etc., will allow the candidate to jump into projects quickly and start contributing.

Do they have experience with cross-platform development?

Since Haxe is a multi-platform language, experience in cross-platform development is a great advantage. It shows that the candidate can adapt to different environments and platforms.

Has the interviewee demonstrated good problem-solving skills?

Problem-solving is a critical skill for developers as they will often need to troubleshoot issues in code and find efficient solutions.

Does the candidate have a strong understanding of the Haxe programming language?

This is essential as it is the primary skill required for the job. The candidate should be able to discuss the syntax, concepts and functionalities of Haxe in depth.

Next 20 minutes

Specific Haxe 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 Haxe?

You would use the 'extends' keyword. For example, if you have a class 'Animal' and you want to create a 'Dog' class that inherits from 'Animal', you would write 'class Dog extends Animal'.

Describe the difference between an interface and a class in Haxe.

An interface is a contract for a class, it defines a set of methods that a class must implement. A class in Haxe is a blueprint for creating objects, it can implement one or more interfaces.

What are macros in Haxe and how would you use them?

Macros in Haxe are a way to generate code at compile time. You would use the 'macro' keyword to define a macro. Macros can be used for tasks like code generation, compile-time calculations, and conditional compilation.

How would you handle exceptions in Haxe?

You would use the 'try/catch' statement. The 'try' block contains the code that might throw an exception, and the 'catch' block contains the code that will be executed if an exception is thrown.

Describe the difference between a static and instance method in Haxe.

A static method belongs to the class itself and can be called without creating an instance of the class. An instance method belongs to an instance of the class and can only be called on an instance of the class.

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The ideal back-end app developer

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

A skilled Haxe engineer should exhibit a strong understanding of the Haxe language, proficiency in cross-platform development, and problem-solving abilities. Red flags would include lack of knowledge about Haxe's syntax or limitations, inability to discuss past projects in detail, or poor communication skills.

Digging deeper

Code questions

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

What does the following Haxe code do?

var str:String = 'Hello, World!';
trace(str);

This code declares a string variable 'str' with the value 'Hello, World!' and then prints it to the console.

What will be the output of the following Haxe code?

var a:Int = 10;
var b:Int = 20;
trace(a + b);

The output of this code will be '30'. It adds two integers 'a' and 'b' and prints the result to the console.

What does the following Haxe code do?

var arr:Array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
arr.pop();
trace(arr);

This code declares an array of integers, removes the last element from the array using the 'pop' method, and then prints the modified array to the console. The output will be '[1,2,3,4]'.

What does the following Haxe code do?

import haxe.Constraints.Function;
var f:Function = function() {
trace('Hello, World!');
};
new Thread(f);

This code imports the 'Function' class from the 'haxe.Constraints' package, declares a function 'f' that prints 'Hello, World!' to the console, and then creates a new thread that executes this function.

What does the following Haxe code do?

class Point {
var x:Int;
var y:Int;
public function new(x:Int, y:Int) {
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
}
}
var p:Point = new Point(10, 20);

This code defines a class 'Point' with two integer variables 'x' and 'y', and a constructor that initializes these variables. It then creates an instance of this class with 'x' as 10 and 'y' as 20.

What will be the output of the following Haxe code?

class Test {
public static function main() {
var a:Int = 10;
var b:Int = a++ + ++a;
trace(b);
}
}

The output of this code will be '22'. It first increments 'a' after the operation, then increments 'a' before the operation, and adds these two values together.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Haxe role questions

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

How would you optimize the performance of a Haxe program?

There are several ways to optimize the performance of a Haxe program. Some of them include using appropriate data structures, minimizing memory usage, avoiding unnecessary calculations, and using the Haxe profiler to identify and optimize bottlenecks.

What are the different types of collections in Haxe and how would you use them?

Haxe supports several types of collections including Array, List, Map, and Set. You would use an Array when you need a resizable collection, a List when you need a collection with efficient add/remove operations, a Map when you need to associate values with keys, and a Set when you need a collection of unique elements.

How would you create and use a generic class in Haxe?

You would use the 'class' keyword followed by the class name and then the type parameter in angle brackets. For example, 'class MyGenericClass<T> { }'. You can then use this class with any type.

Describe the difference between public and private access modifiers in Haxe.

Public access modifier allows a class, method, or property to be accessed from anywhere. Private access modifier restricts the access to within the class itself.

What are the different types of loops in Haxe and how would you use them?

Haxe supports several types of loops including 'for', 'while', and 'do-while'. You would use a 'for' loop when you know how many times you want to loop, a 'while' loop when you want to loop until a condition is false, and a 'do-while' loop when you want to loop at least once and then until a condition is false.

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Haxe application related

Product Perfect's Haxe development capabilities

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