If you’re tasked to make minor changes to an existing program in a programming language that you’ve never used before, can you do it? Consider the following fictitious interview question:

You’re writing code in a programming language that you’ve never used before. You have no documentation about the language except the other code. Complete the following function: …

Let’s make this easier. Can you do it if you’re only slightly unfamiliar with the programming language?

When I learned new programming languages, I looked for how to:

• declare and initialise variables
• do loops (such as for and while in the C family)
• do conditionals (the if statement)
• do multi-conditionals (switch for C#, select case for VB.NET) if available
• take in input and print output
• write and use functions

You might have a different list, and that’s ok. It’s how I look for patterns.

With that in mind, if you had sufficient lines of code, you should be able to figure out what the code did. Even if you’ve never seen the programming language before. Then you could make the minor changes you’re tasked with some level of confidence.

It’s not like you code in assembly, right? … Are you?

I don’t have a code sample to show you. Alright fine, I’m too lazy to think up one… Do you have something to show? Post in the comments, and I’ll rack my brains on it…