All About Coding Simulators in Mettl
Mercer | Mettl offers a wide variety of coding simulators ranging from Backend Development Simulators to Front-End Simulators, Database Query Simulator, etc.
Some of the prominent simulators include:
CodeLysis or General Purpose Backend Programming Simulator
Mercer | Mettl's general-purpose backend programming environment or CodeLysis has a user-friendly interface that includes a coding window for writing and editing code, a compiler for compiling and running the code, and test cases for evaluating its functionality. Additionally, it supports a wide range of programming languages and has various intuitive features that assist test takers to write efficient codes and customize the coding editor as per their preference.
Test taker’s coding window, as it appears in a live test, can be seen below:
How does the simulator help: This simulator can be used to assess the problem-solving capabilities of a test-taker and evaluate their capability to understand and write codes to contribute and solve the problem statement.
Who can you evaluate: Freshers and individuals with 1-4 years of experience.
Supported Languages: C, CPP, C#, JAVA6, VB, PHP, Python2, Ruby, ObjectiveC, Java7, Java8, Python3, SWIFT2, GO1, Javascript8, SCALA2, R, Elixir, Node, Kotlin, SWIFT4, Java11, C18, CPP17, Javascript19, SWIFT5, Bash5, GO16, PHP8, Java17, VB, Typescript4.
Grading process: Test taker’s code will be run against pre-defined testcases which will either pass or fail depending upon the output. All the test cases hold a grade that will be awarded to the test taker on the passing of that test case and the sum of all the grades awarded from the passing of different test cases is considered the final grade for that question.
If there is a syntactical, logical or runtime error in the test taker’s code, the code will not be executed, and the Code Execution window will show the error(s) which when clicked upon will take the test-taker to the exact line on which the error has occurred.
DBLysis or Database Query Simulator
The interface of Mercer | Mettl's database simulator or DBLysis includes key components such as a Query Editor for writing and editing queries, a database engine for executing the queries, test cases for evaluating the query's functionality, an output window to view the output of the query compilation and various other features which make it easier for the test takers to adapt to the interface and focus on solving the problem statement at hand.
A snippet of the test taker’s coding window, as it appears in a live test, can be seen below:
How does Database Simulator help: This simulator can be used to evaluate database query writing skills. Evaluates a candidate’s capabilities to write correct and optimized queries to access data in various database variants.
Who can you evaluate: Freshers and individuals with 1-3 years of experience.
Supported Databases: As of today, the database variants supported on the simulator are MSSQL 2016, MYSQL 5.7, MYSQL 8.0, ORACLE 19C, POSTGRES 14.7 and MARIADB 10.6.
Grading process: The output of the query written by the test taker is checked against the testcases in the backend and the status of the same is then visible on the Test Cases Tab.
FES or Front-End Simulator
Mercer | Mettl's front-end programming environment or FES includes key components such as a coding window with separate tabs for writing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript codes, a results tab that shows the output of the written code in real-time and various other features that help evaluate the front-end development skills of test-takers and assess their capability to implement web designs.
Candidate's coding window, as it appears in a live test, can be seen below:
How does Front End Simulator help: This simulator helps evaluate a candidate’s capability to implement web designs and to solve problems using front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery.
Who can you evaluate: Freshers and individuals with 1-3 years of experience.
Supported Technologies: HTML, CSS, Java Script, jQuery.
Candidates are graded on the matched test cases. Details of the test cases are shown in the candidate report.
Grading Process: FES supports both Manual grading and Automated grading.
- Manual grading: Candidate will be awarded zero marks by default and then evaluator can assign the scores by clicking on the re-evaluate button.
Click here to see how to manually evaluate/re-evaluate a question.
- Automated grading Candidate will be scored on the matched test cases and scores will be assigned as per the weightage of the matched test cases.
R Simulator
The interface of Mercer | Mettl's R development environment includes key components such as a coding window for writing and editing code, a compiler for executing the code in the console output tab, test cases for evaluating the code's functionality, and various other features which make it easier for the test takers to adapt to the interface and focus on solving the problem at hand.
Candidate's coding window, as it appears in a live test, can be seen below:
How does R Simulator help: This simulator aims at giving a familiar online environment where candidates can use R programming language to solve a described problem.
Who can you evaluate: Freshers and individuals with 1-4 years of experience.
Supported Technologies: R programming.
Candidates are graded on the matched test cases. Details of the test cases are shown in the candidate report.
Grading Process: R Simulator supports both Manual grading and Automated grading
- Manual grading: Candidate will be awarded zero marks by default and then the evaluator can assign the scores by clicking upon the re-evaluate button.
Click here to see how to manually evaluate/re-evaluate a question.
- Automated grading Candidate will be scored on the matched test cases and scores will be assigned as per the weightage of the matched test cases.
Code Project or Application Based Environment
Mercer | Mettl’s application development environment or Code Project is used to assess the development skills of a test-taker such as writing codes, organizing files, and connecting to databases within an IDE. There exist key components such as an IDE, a project explorer interface in a tree-like structure for easy navigation of files, and database connectivity where a test-taker's programming skills with underlying data storage can be easily evaluated.
Currently, C, CPP, Java, and C# along with MySQL, Oracle SQL, and SQL Server databases are the languages supported by Code Project Simulator.
Candidate's coding window, as it appears in a live test, can be seen below:
How does Code Project Simulator help: Used to assess the development skills of a candidate within an Integrated Development Environment. Evaluates complete development skills including writing codes, organizing files and connecting to databases while giving the candidates freedom to write their own test cases as required in an actual software development project.
Who can you evaluate: Individuals with 2-6 years of experience.
Supported Environments: C, C++, Java, Java with MySQL, Java with Oracle, C# and C# with MS SQL.
Grading Process: Code Project supports both Manual grading and Automated grading.
- Automated grading: Scores will be generated on matched cases. (Testcase defined by the question author will be matched with the test cases written by the test taker and shown in the test report too).
We also show Static Code Analysis, wherein for Java we use PMD, for C# we use FxCop and for C we use CPP Check.In addition to this, the evaluator can also click on the re-evaluate option to give some additional scores if required.
- Manual grading: Candidate will be awarded zero marks by default and then the evaluator can assign the scores by clicking upon the re-evaluate button.
Click here to see how to manually evaluate/re-evaluate a question.
I/O or Project-based Development Environment
Mercer | Mettl's project-based development environment or I/O is a comprehensive project-based real-world application development platform. The problem statements on I/O can be fully auto graded, eliminating the need for manual interventions. Test-takers can be assessed on specific technology stacks such as React, Angular, SpringBoot, full stack technologies such as MEAN and MERN as well as data science & machine learning technologies such as Python, R etc.
Candidate's coding window, as it appears in a live test, can be seen below:
How does I/O Simulator help: The I/O Simulator helps in assessing the abilities of test-takers by allowing them to work on practical projects and solve real-world problems. It provides an environment where they can demonstrate their proficiency in using the specified technology stacks and frameworks.
Who can you evaluate: Individuals with 2-6 years of experience
Supported IDEs: Eclipse Theia and Jupyter Lab IDEs
Grading Process: I/O Simulator supports both Manual grading and Automated grading.
- Manual grading: Candidate will be awarded zero marks by default and then the evaluator can assign the scores by clicking upon the re-evaluate button.
We also show Static Code Analysis as well wherein for Software Development projects.
Click here to see how to manually evaluate/re-evaluate a question.
- Automated grading Candidate will be scored on the test cases and scores will be assigned as per the weightage of the passing test cases.