When you start coding in an Interview, you now choose between Basic coding and Advanced coding. Basic coding is the quick single-file editor. Advanced coding is where VS Code now lives. In both, you can pick the technology yourself or select Candidate's choice, so candidates work in the language or stack they know best.
Nothing was removed. VS Code moved to Advanced coding, and the simple editor is now called Basic coding. The same two options appear on the interview welcome screen and in Add task. There is no account setting to configure.
Which one should I use?
| Basic coding | Advanced coding | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Functions, algorithms and debugging snippets | Real code bases and project-style tasks |
| Editor | Language-agnostic single-file editor | VS Code IDE |
| Choosing the technology | Language tiles, with search and a filter | Base technology list |
| Candidate's choice | Yes. The candidate can pick any language | Yes. You can limit which technologies the candidate can pick from |
| Additional services (for example databases) | No | Yes, optional |
| AI assistant | No | Yes |
| Change the setup after starting | Yes, with Change setup | No. Add a new task instead |
For interviewers
Start Basic coding
- On the interview welcome screen, click Basic coding.
- Pick a language from the tiles. Use the search box to find one quickly, or use the filter to show languages only or languages with a test framework.
- To let the candidate choose, click Candidate's choice instead.
Need VS Code instead? Click the Advanced coding link at the bottom of the screen.
What you see when the candidate chooses (Basic coding)
You can see that the candidate is selecting their environment and which languages are available to them. Use the waiting time to write the task description. The Candidate's choice badge shows the current setup. Click Change setup to change it.
Start Advanced coding (VS Code)
- On the welcome screen, click Advanced coding.
- Under Base technology, pick a technology, or select Candidate's choice.
- Optionally attach additional services and select the AI assistant. These work as before. See Additional Services for VS Code Interview Environments.
- With Candidate's choice, select the technologies the candidate can pick from. If you select none, all technologies are available.
- Click Confirm.
The VS Code environment starts once the candidate has chosen. Until then you can see the available technologies and write the task description.
Add a task during the interview
Click Add task in the sidebar to see the same Basic coding and Advanced coding options. While the candidate is choosing, the Excalidraw whiteboard is disabled.
For candidates
- Basic coding: You are told that the interviewer left the choice to you. Pick a language from the tiles, or use search. The task description is shown next to the editor.
- Advanced coding: You see Choose technology with only the technologies the interviewer allowed. Each one opens in VS Code. The task description is shown next to it.
Limitations
- The setup of an existing VS Code task cannot be changed in the room. Add a new task instead.
- In Basic coding, Candidate's choice offers all languages. Limiting the candidate to a few languages is only possible in Advanced coding.
- Advanced coding does not have search for technologies yet.
- Change setup works differently in Basic and Advanced coding.
- Candidate's choice in Advanced coding applies to new VS Code setups started from Advanced coding.
FAQ
Where is VS Code now? Under Advanced coding, on the interview welcome screen and in Add task. It works as before, with additional services and the AI assistant.
What is Basic coding? The language-agnostic single-file editor for functions, algorithms and debugging snippets. Languages are now shown as tiles.
How do I let the candidate choose? Select Candidate's choice in Basic coding, or under Base technology in Advanced coding. The candidate picks when they join.
Can I limit what the candidate can pick? In Advanced coding, yes. Select the technologies they can pick from. Selecting none makes all of them available. In Basic coding the candidate can pick any language.
What do I do while the candidate is choosing? Write or edit the task description. The environment opens as soon as the candidate confirms their choice.
Can I change the setup after the candidate has chosen? In Basic coding, yes, with Change setup. A VS Code task cannot be reconfigured. Add a new task with Add task.
Got questions or feedback? Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or support@codility.com