Article 5 of 5 in a series on creating your own tests.
This is the fifth article in a series of five, to help you create your own tests using the TestGorilla platform. The full series includes:
- Developing an effective screening test
- Choosing a question type
- Writing situational judgment questions
- How to create your own test
- Creating a custom coding test
Account owners, admins, and recruiters on our Pro plans can add their own tests.
When creating your own test, we recommend outlining it before putting it into the TestGorilla platform. This will help ensure that everything is organized and laid out exactly as you want.
Approx. reading time 8 minutes
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Custom coding questions are no longer available on our platform. You can now create custom coding tests instead, offering a more streamlined and flexible experience. All previously created custom coding questions have been archived. |
In this article
- What is a custom coding test?
- Creating a custom coding test
- Language-agnostic coding tests
- Common questions
- Next step
What is a custom coding test?
Custom coding tests are used to assess a candidate’s ability to create or debug code in a specified language within a certain time limit. Unlike coding questions, custom coding tests allow for more flexibility and collaboration and are easier to create, edit, and test.
Custom coding tests are:
- Language agnostic, allowing candidates to choose from a variety of programming languages.
- Designed to provide a consistent candidate experience by including one question per test.
- Built for collaboration, enabling multiple users to contribute to the creation process.
Who can create a coding question?
Any user with the Owner, Admin, or Recruiter role is able to create a custom coding test or question. Due to the highly technical nature of coding tests, you are required to have an expert in your required coding language create your questions for you.
Note: TestGorilla cannot assist you with the content of custom tests. Any tests you create yourself must be an original creation. |
Available coding languages
We currently have 20 coding languages available, which can be used in both tests and questions:
- C: 10.2.0
- C# : 6.12.0
- C++ : 10.2.0
- Go: 1.16.2
- Java: 15.0.2
- JavaScript: 18.15.0
- Kotlin: 1.8.20
- PHP: 8.2.3
- Python: 3.10.0
- R: 4.1.1
- Ruby: 3.0.1
- Scala: 3.2.2
- SQL: SQLite 3.31.1
- Swift: 5.3.3
- Typescript: 5.0.3
The following languages are available for language-agnostic tests:
- Dart: 2.19.6
- Elixir: 1.11.3
- Erlang: 23.0.0
- Julia: 1.8.5
- Perl: 5.36.0
- Rust: 1.68.2
Note: Only one language can be used per test or question. |
Creating a custom coding test
Create the custom coding test
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Add your test details
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Go to the Questions section Once you’ve saved your basic test information, select Questions to the left of the screen to create your coding questions. |
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Create a coding question 1. Test description Complete, on the left side of the screen, the instructions for the coding challenge that candidates will see. 2. Test cases Test cases consist of pairs of inputs and their corresponding expected outputs. In other words, they define the relationship between input variables and the output a function should produce if it is implemented correctly. By testing a function with these predefined input-output pairs, you can verify whether it behaves as intended.
Example: If you have 3 variables as input to your function (n=1, x=2, y=5) then in the test case’s input you should write: 1
3. Initial code You can choose to configure the initial code that your candidates will see, for all of the programming languages you have selected. This is optional, but recommended to ensure a better candidate experience.
Example: This is an example initial code for Python, for a function that has 3 variables as input and one variable as output: n = int(input()) |
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Save your test The verification code is basically the model answer. You need to code it and run it to ensure all test cases you entered are passed. This process only needs to be done for one programming language and is required before you are able to save the question. |
Language-agnostic coding tests
With our language-agnostic coding tests, you can configure which programming languages are available for candidates to use. Candidates can choose from any of the 20 supported languages.
Language-agnostic tests allow candidates to:
- Select their preferred language.
- Access onboarding tooltips and practice questions.
- Personalize the integrated development environment (IDE) to match their preferences.
Common questions
Is there a limit to the number of coding tests in an assessment?
Depending on your plan, you can include up to 5 tests per assessment. Consider assessment length carefully to avoid overwhelming candidates.
Can I edit an existing custom coding test?
Yes, you can edit your custom coding tests at any time to update languages, test cases, or other details.
Next steps
While not included in this series, we do have other articles that are helpful when making your own test that are worth taking a look at. They are: