Patent Publication Number: US-2023153712-A1

Title: Evaluation platform as a service

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates generally to data processing and, in particular, to provide a computing environment for enabling development testing during evaluation processes. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Many companies rely on software applications to conduct their business. Software applications deal with various aspects of companies&#39; businesses, which can include finances, product development, human resources, customer service, management, and many other aspects. Software applications typically operate from servers and can be stored in memory. To use software applications, users typically employ various computing devices. User interfaces provide users with an ability to provide instructions to software applications, interact with other users, and perform various functionalities in furthering their company&#39;s business. User interfaces can include a variety of software tools that can be generated by the corresponding software applications. The tools can assist users with performing their tasks, such as word processing, graphics creation, application development, etc. It is important to be able to provide interfaces that enable development, execution, and evaluation of work by various users, such as, during a hiring process. 
     SUMMARY 
     In some implementations, the current subject matter relates to a computer implemented method for enabling development testing during evaluation processes. The method may include receiving a request to complete one or more computing tasks for executing by at least one computing system, and generating a development interface associated with the computing system for developing one or more responses to the received request. A completion of the computing tasks may include the developed responses. The method may also include accessing, based on the received request, one or more computing applications for developing the responses associated with the computing tasks, completing the computing tasks, in the development interface, by executing the accessed computing applications associated with the developing of the responses by the computing system, and transmitting the completed tasks. 
     In some implementations, the current subject matter may include one or more of the following optional features. The development interface may be a browser-based interface. One or more tasks may include at least one of the following: generating a source code, generating one or more computing functions, generating one or more software applications, generating one or more computing functionalities, providing at least one of a text, graphical, audio, video and image data, and any combination thereof. 
     In some implementations, accessing may include accessing at least one of the following: one or more source code libraries, one or more computing applications external to the development interface, one or more computing applications internal to the development interface, and any combination thereof for developing one or more responses. 
     In some implementations, receiving may include receiving, from a first user, the request to complete one or more computing tasks for executing by at least one computing system, and assigning the received request to at least one second user for completion. The method may also include authenticating, using the development interface, the first and second users. In some implementations, the computing system may be a cloud-based computing system. 
     Non-transitory computer program products (i.e., physically embodied computer program products) are also described that store instructions, which when executed by one or more data processors of one or more computing systems, causes at least one data processor to perform operations herein. Similarly, computer systems are also described that may include one or more data processors and memory coupled to the one or more data processors. The memory may temporarily or permanently store instructions that cause at least one processor to perform one or more of the operations described herein. In addition, methods can be implemented by one or more data processors either within a single computing system or distributed among two or more computing systems. Such computing systems can be connected and can exchange data and/or commands or other instructions or the like via one or more connections, including but not limited to a connection over a network (e.g., the Internet, a wireless wide area network, a local area network, a wide area network, a wired network, or the like), via a direct connection between one or more of the multiple computing systems, etc. 
     The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, show certain aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein and, together with the description, help explain some of the principles associated with the disclosed implementations. In the drawings, 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary system for conducting various recruiting activities, according to some implementations of the current subject matter; 
         FIG.  2    is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for operating the development environment, according to some implementations of the current subject matter; 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system including a data storage application, according to some implementations of the current subject matter; 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram illustrating details of the system of  FIG.  3   ; 
         FIG.  5    is an exemplary system, according to some implementations of the current subject matter; and 
         FIG.  6    is an exemplary method, according to some implementations of the current subject matter. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     To address these and potentially other deficiencies of currently available solutions, one or more implementations of the current subject matter relate to methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and the like that may, in some implementations, provide a computing environment for enabling development testing during evaluation (e.g., candidate interview) processes. 
     In some implementations, the current subject matter may be configured to provide a computing environment (e.g., a platform-as-a-service) that may be used for testing, development, etc. of capabilities of various users during, for example, interviews. Such platform-as-a-service (PaaS) may be configured to have a development environment that may include one or more computing tools (e.g., functionalities, software applications, etc.) that may be integrated into the development environment for use by one or more users. Using the PaaS, various users may generate various requests for creating and/or developing of applications, functionalities, functions, etc. that may be created/developed by other users using tools and/or libraries that may be available from the PaaS. Users may be configured to control development, configuration, testing, execution, etc. of the developed applications, functionalities, functions, etc. The development environment may provide and/or otherwise be communicatively coupled with networks, servers, storage, and/or other services that may be required for creation/development of applications, functionalities, functions, etc. The PaaS may include applications, functionalities, functions, etc. design, development, testing, deployment, as well as various services, including, for example, team collaboration, web service integration, marshalling, database integration, security, scalability, storage, persistence, state management, application versioning, application instrumentation, and others. 
     In some implementations, the development environment may be configured as an interviewing platform that may be used for screening prospective candidates and/or testing their skills. The environment may be accessible by various types of users, including, for example, interviewer users, prospective candidate users, administrator users, and/or any other types of users. For any prospective candidate users, the development environment may be configured to generate and/or provide various requests to prospective candidate users. The request may be automatically generated and/or may originate from one or more interviewer users (and/or any other users). The requests may include one or more questions about the prospective candidate users, e.g., questions relating to candidate user&#39;s background information, employment history, etc. Moreover, the requests may include one or more assignments to complete a particular task, e.g., write a code for a function that may be used for a particular purpose. In resolving the task, the candidate user may implement any tools that may be available in the development environment, may request access to one or more tools, datasets, etc. that may be needed to complete the task. The candidate user may also use one or more test operability of the completed task (e.g., software application, functionality, function, etc.). In some implementations, the completed task may be tested in a closed environment, e.g., without access to live data and/or applications. Alternatively, or in addition to, the completed task may be tested using live data and/or applications without altering integrity, current operation, etc. of such live data and/or applications. 
     Additionally, the development environment may also provide connectivity among various users using various online media platforms. Using such platforms, users are able to conduct virtual in-person discussions, assess viability of the prospective candidates, complete various questionnaires, generate assessments relating to the prospective candidates, etc. 
     In some implementations, the development environment may be configured to provide a runtime environment for executing a sequence of tasks, e.g., as may be associated with evaluation of prospective candidates for employment at a company. Such tasks may be executed in synchronous, asynchronous, and/or any other desired manner. The development environment may be configured to receive, as an input, one or more requests, assignments, configuration data, etc. for evaluation of a candidate user. To respond to such requests, assignments, etc., the candidate user may be configured to perform various processes (e.g., write code, assemble various functionalities, etc.). One or more such processes may be executed at the same time using the development environment. Alternatively, or in addition to, the processes may be executed, using the development environment, in a particular execution order. The development environment may also be configured to provide for external communications, such as, for example, query execution, invoking application programming interface (API) calls, etc. 
     In some implementations, the development environment may be configured to generate a user interface that may allow dragging and dropping of various functionalities, computing applications, etc. for the purposes of answering specific requests, e.g., generating computing functionalities, functions, etc. The user interface may include one or more graphical panels that may include a listing of available functionalities, functions, and/or components (e.g., functionalities, computing blocks, data, metadata, etc.) that may be available for selection. The user interface may also include a “canvas” area that may be used for responding to requests. One or more candidate users may use the user interface to perform various functionalities associated with generation of responses to requests. The development environment may be configured to provide one or more templates (e.g., predefined structures) for generating responses to requests. 
     By way of a non-limiting example, using the user interface of the development environment, candidate users may select one or more pre-defined computing components from one or more user interface panels and then drag-and-drop the components into the development environment&#39;s canvas area. In some implementations, the development environment may be configured to provide a compiling functionality of any applications, functionalities, functions, etc. generated by the candidate users to ensure that such applications, functionalities, functions, etc. are capable of operating a mock production environment, e.g., capable of operating in accordance with various requirements of computing systems where the generated applications, functionalities, functions, etc. may be implemented. 
     In some implementations, the development environment may be communicatively coupled to a storage location and/or a database to store result(s) of compiling of each applications, functionalities, functions, etc., process and store data that may result from execution of applications, functionalities, functions, etc., and/or store any other data. The storage location may be configured to store results of execution of one or more or a chain of generated applications, functionalities, functions, etc., where one applications, functionalities, functions, etc. may require resulting data from execution of another applications, functionalities, functions, etc. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary system  100  for conducting various recruiting activities, according to some implementations of the current subject matter. The system  100  may be configured to operate in one or more clustered computing environments (e.g., Kubernetes), one or more cloud environments, etc. It may include one or more first type of users, entities, applications, etc.  102  (e.g., user A 1 , user A 2 , . . . , user An, etc.), which may include one or more interviewer users, administrator users, etc., and one or more second type of users  101  (e.g., user B 1 , user B 2 , . . . , user Bm, etc.), which may include one or more prospective candidate users. It may also include a recruiting platform system  104 , and a database  106 . The system  104  may include one or more computing elements (which may, for example, as discussed below, include one or more processors, one or more servers, one or more computing engines, one or more memory and/or storage locations, one or more databases, etc.) such as, a development environment  103  having one or more computing tools  108 , database systems  110 , enterprise services  112 , application programming interface(s)  114 , and connectivity service(s)  116 . Further, the system  100  may include one or more code hubs and/or databases  118 , one or more media applications  120 , and/or one or more cloud applications  122 . Various components of the system  100  may be communicatively coupled using various communication protocols, including but not limited to REST protocol, HTTP protocol, etc. 
     The system  104  may include a processor, a memory, and/or any combination of hardware/software, and may be configured to allow one or more users  102  to communicate with one or more users  101  for the purposes of interviewing the users  101  and/or assigning users  101  specific tasks that may be completed by users  101  using one or more elements of the system  100 . The tasks may seek the users  101  to generate one or more or specific software applications, one or more computing processes, one or more computing steps that may be executed by one or more processors, along with any associated data and/or content, and/or any configuration data that may specify one or more functions and/or features of the software application(s), data and/or content. A completed task may include one or more other tasks and/or sub-tasks. In some cases, a completed task may be configured to rely on data, functions and/or features (and/or any combination thereof) of a computing component such that the completed task is an integration and/or a combination of one or more computing components. The user  101  may use one or more computing components that may refer to a software code that may be configured to perform a particular function, a piece and/or a set of data (e.g., data unique to a particular user and/or data available to a plurality of users) and/or configuration data used to create, modify, etc. one or more software functionalities associated with a particular task, sub-task, and/or a portion of a task that may be assigned to a user  101  by one or more users  102 . The system  104  may include one or more artificial intelligence and/or learning capabilities that may rely on and/or use various data, e.g., data related to and/or identifying one or more qualifications of users  101  based on the completion of assigned tasks as viewed in the context of historical data associated with completion of tasks by other users. 
     The elements of the system  100  may be communicatively coupled using one or more communications networks. The communications networks can include at least one of the following: a wired network, a wireless network, a metropolitan area network (“MAN”), a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), a virtual local area network (“VLAN”), an internet, an extranet, an intranet, and/or any other type of network and/or any combination thereof. 
     Moreover, the elements of the system  100  may include any combination of hardware and/or software. In some implementations, the elements may be disposed on one or more computing devices, such as, server(s), database(s), personal computer(s), laptop(s), cellular telephone(s), smartphone(s), tablet computer(s), and/or any other computing devices and/or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the elements may be disposed on a single computing device and/or can be part of a single communications network. Alternatively, the elements may be separately located from one another. 
     The user  102  may be an end user (e.g., a business user), and/or an administrator user. The end user  102  may be configured to use various tools that may be available to the user  102  in screening particular candidate users  101 . The users  102  may be configured to cause (e.g., via one or more user interfaces associated with development environment  108 ) generation one or more tasks for user  101  to resolve. 
     The development environment  103  may be configured to be structured as a browser-based computing environment. It may be configured to provide a collaborative platform for conducting technical interviews in a browser, thereby making it easy to conduct screening of candidates across various geographical regions, time zones, etc. The environment  103  may be configured to allow users  101  (e.g., prospective candidates) to write code, support code execution in the environment (e.g., browser), perform debugging, and/or perform any other functions. In the environment, a user of a debugger may help identify one or more issues in the written code. 
     The development environment  103  may be configured support use of one or more tools  108 , which may include one or more software applications, functionalities, functions, databases, etc. The tools  108  may be used by one or more users  101  to generate a response to one or more tasks that may be assigned to them by the users  102 . The tools  108  may include, for example, a drawing tool, which may be used in drawing a system design, documenting system architecture, technical concepts, etc. This tool may be used to respond to a request to generate a system diagram and/or for any other purpose. 
     The tools  108  may also include various technologies/programming languages packages. Some example technologies may include technologies available from SAP SE, Walldorf, Germany, e.g., CAP, RAP, SAPUI5, Fiori, mobile-dev-kit (mdk), SAP BTP SDK and others. Examples of programming language tools  108  may include, but are not limited to, JAVA, Python, NodeJS, etc. The users  102  may also utilize one or more tools  108 , such as, for the purposes of providing questions, requests, etc. to users  101 . The users  102  may obtain questions from one or more question library tools  108  and/or database  106 . The question library tools may include, but are not limited to, questions menus, case studies, and others. The users  102  may also utilize one or more user interfaces for using and/or managing the question library tools  108 . The tools  108  may also be configured to be provided by one or more database systems  110  (e.g., High Performance Analytic Appliance (“HANA”) system as developed by SAP SE, Walldorf, Germany), one or more enterprise services  112  (e.g., enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) systems, supply chain management system (“SCM”) systems, supplier relationship management (“SRM”) systems, customer relationship management (“CRM”) systems, and/or others). One or more application programming interfaces  114  may be configured to provide appropriate connections, calls, etc. between various tools, services, etc. 
     In some implementations, users  101 , in preparing a response to one or more tasks provided to them by users  102 , may utilize source code libraries  118  (e.g., Github), which may include source code repositories, databases, and/or other code storage locations. The source code library may be located behind a firewall, such as, at a secure on-premise enterprise network. One or more connectivity services  116  may be utilized for connection to the source code libraries  118 . The connectivity services  116  may be configured to implement various communication protocols, such as, for example, REST, HTTP, etc. 
     Similarly, users  101 , in preparation of a response to the tasks posed to them by users  102 , may be configured to access one or more cloud-based applications  122 . The connectivity services  116  may likewise provide connections between the development environment  103  and the cloud applications  122 . The connections may also be provided by one or more of the above communication protocols. 
     Additionally, in some implementations, the users  102  may wish to provide various questions (e.g., using graphical flash cards, computer prompts, and/or in any other way) to users  101 . Further, the users  102  may also wish to conduct a live meeting with one or more users  101 . These may be accomplished using one or more media applications  120  (e.g., which may include a live video conferencing software, internet-based conferencing applications, etc.). 
     In some implementations, once the users  101  have completed tasks that may be assigned to them (e.g., writing code, responding to questions, providing various information, etc.), the users  101  may verify information that has been prepared prior to submission. Verification of the information may include compilation of any code written, checking of one or more database data (e.g., publicly available databases) to ensure that the data that they provided is correct, etc. Further, the users  101  may be configured to authorize use of their information in performing various checks by the users  102  (e.g., running of background checks, financial checks, etc.). Once these actions are completed, the users  101  may submit the information to the users  102  using the development environment  103 . 
     Upon receiving the information from the users  101  (or while receiving information from users  101 , such as, during live video conferences), the users  102  may be configured to submit their feedback regarding tasks and/or any information, data, etc. provided by users  101 . The feedback may include, but is not limited to, evaluations of users  101 &#39;s performance of tasks assigned to them, grading of performance of users  101  in response to various questions, assessment of users  101  qualifications, and/or any other feedback. One or more templates may be utilized for these purposes. Additionally, the users  102  may generate various actions, including preparation and forwarding of standard/customized offer of employment letters to users  101 , requests for additional information, onboarding of new hires, etc. 
       FIG.  2    is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process  200  for operating the development environment, according to some implementations of the current subject matter. The process  200  may be executed by one or more elements of the system  100 . In particular, the recruiting platform  104  may be configured to perform one or more operations of the process  200   
     At  202 , the recruiting platform  104  may be configured to perform authentication of one or more first type of users (e.g., users  102 ) and one or more second type of users (e.g., users  101 ). Authentication may be performed using any desired means, such as, for example, individual user name and password, one-time login tokens. Upon authentication, both types of users (e.g., users  101 ,  102 ) may be configured to login to an interface associated with the development environment  103  of the recruiting platform  104 . The development environment&#39;s interface may configured to be browser-based without requiring any separate installations on users&#39; machines. Alternatively, or in addition, the browser interface may be configured as a temporary and/or session-based plug-in that may be generated for the purposes of conducting communications between users  101  and  102  and may be automatically deleted upon completion of communications and/or any sessions between users  101  and  102 . The users  101  and  102  may be configured to be securely connected to the development environment  103  using any desired communication protocols (e.g., REST, HTTP, etc.) and/or any interfaces. 
     At  204 , the development environment  103  may be configured to receive one or more tasks from the first type of users (e.g., users  102 ) and assign them for completion to the second type of users (e.g., users  101 ). The tasks may include, but are not limited to, writing code associated with a particular software application, functionality, function, etc. that may be aimed to resolve a particular issue, answering questions from user  102 , drawing a system, an architecture, etc. diagram, and/or performing any other task. The development environment  103  may be configured to use information that may be exchanged during connection of the users  101  and  102  to determine how to assign tasks from which first type users to which second type users. In some implementations, one or more first type users  102  may be configured to be connected (e.g., interviewing) multiple second type users  101  at the same time. As such, to ensure that tasks are assigned to the correct users  101 , the development environment  103  may be configured to use one or more unique identifiers corresponding to the established connections between users  101  and  102  in assignment of the tasks. 
     At  206 , the development environment  103  may be configured to provide and/or transmit the assigned task to the second type of user (e.g., user  101 ) for completion. To complete the assigned tasks, the user  101  may require access to one or more tools  108  of the development environment  103 . For example, the user  101  may have been assigned a task to prepare a computing architecture diagram. In that regard, the user  101  may require use of a drawing tool  108  and an appropriate drawing interface. Upon receiving a request for a particular tool  108 , the development environment  103  may be configured to provide access to the user  101  to such tool  108 , at  208 . The tool may also be executed by the development environment  103 , thereby allowing the user  101  to perform the task that has been assigned to the user  101 . 
     At  210 , the development environment  103  may be configured to determine whether access to one or more code libraries  118  (e.g., external to the development environment  103 ) and/or applications  122  may be required for the purposes of completing the assigned task. The development environment  103  may be configured to determine that such access is required upon analyzing the assigned task (e.g., the request may call for generation of a graphical representation of an object, which may require access to a graph API application). Alternatively, or in addition, the development environment  103  may receive specific requests from users  101  and/or  102  for providing such access. 
     If access to code library  118  and/or applications  122  is required, the recruiting platform  104  and/or the development environment may execute one or more connectivity services  116  to connect the user  101  to such code libraries  118  and/or applications  122 , at  212 . The code from code libraries  118  and/or an application from applications  122  may be provided to the user  101  via the browser interface associated with the environment  103 . If access is not required, the process  200  may be configured to proceed to operation  214 . 
     At  214 , the development environment  103  may be configured to determine whether the user  101  has completed the assigned task. Completion of the assigned task may be determined by detecting lack of errors after execution of a compilation function. The development environment  103  may also determine whether task has been completed upon detecting of activation of a save and/or submit button by the user  101  using which the user may save and submit user&#39;s work product to user  102 . This process may be executed periodically, upon request from user  102 , and/or at any desired time. Otherwise, the development environment  103  may continue checking whether the assigned task has been completed and continue providing access to tools  108 , code  118 , and/or applications  122 . 
     Once the environment  103  has detected completion of the assigned task, the environment  103  may be configured to transmit the completed task to the user  102  for review. In some implementations, the environment  103  may be configured to receive a request from the user  102  and/or user  101  for a live connection between users. For execution of such connection, one or more connectivity services  116  may be executed and one or more media applications  120  may be accessed to provide the requested connection, at  218 . 
     In some implementations, the current subject matter may be implemented in various in-memory database systems, such as a High Performance Analytic Appliance (“HANA”) system as developed by SAP SE, Walldorf, Germany. Various systems, such as, enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system, supply chain management system (“SCM”) system, supplier relationship management (“SRM”) system, customer relationship management (“CRM”) system, and/or others, may interact with the in-memory system for the purposes of accessing data, for example. Other systems and/or combinations of systems may be used for implementations of the current subject matter. The following is a discussion of an exemplary in-memory system. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates an exemplary system  300  in which a computing system  302 , which may include one or more programmable processors that may be collocated, linked over one or more networks, etc., executes one or more modules, software components, or the like of a data storage application  304 , according to some implementations of the current subject matter. The data storage application  304  may include one or more of a database, an enterprise resource program, a distributed storage system (e.g. NetApp Filer available from NetApp of Sunnyvale, Calif.), or the like. 
     The one or more modules, software components, or the like may be accessible to local users of the computing system  302  as well as to remote users accessing the computing system  302  from one or more client machines  306  over a network connection  310 . One or more user interface screens produced by the one or more first modules may be displayed to a user, either via a local display or via a display associated with one of the client machines  306 . Data units of the data storage application  304  may be transiently stored in a persistence layer  312  (e.g., a page buffer or other type of temporary persistency layer), which may write the data, in the form of storage pages, to one or more storages  314 , for example via an input/output component  316 . The one or more storages  314  may include one or more physical storage media or devices (e.g. hard disk drives, persistent flash memory, random access memory, optical media, magnetic media, and the like) configured for writing data for longer term storage. It should be noted that the storage  314  and the input/output component  316  may be included in the computing system  302  despite their being shown as external to the computing system  302  in  FIG.  3   . 
     Data retained at the longer term storage  314  may be organized in pages, each of which has allocated to it a defined amount of storage space. In some implementations, the amount of storage space allocated to each page may be constant and fixed. However, other implementations in which the amount of storage space allocated to each page may vary are also within the scope of the current subject matter. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates exemplary software architecture  400 , according to some implementations of the current subject matter. A data storage application  304 , which may be implemented in one or more of hardware and software, may include one or more of a database application, a network-attached storage system, or the like. According to at least some implementations of the current subject matter, such a data storage application  304  may include or otherwise interface with a persistence layer  312  or other type of memory buffer, for example via a persistence interface  402 . A page buffer  404  within the persistence layer  312  may store one or more logical pages  406 , and optionally may include shadow pages, active pages, and the like. The logical pages  406  retained in the persistence layer  312  may be written to a storage (e.g. a longer term storage, etc.)  314  via an input/output component  316 , which may be a software module, a sub-system implemented in one or more of software and hardware, or the like. The storage  314  may include one or more data volumes  410  where stored pages  412  are allocated at physical memory blocks. 
     In some implementations, the data storage application  304  may include or be otherwise in communication with a page manager  414  and/or a savepoint manager  416 . The page manager  414  may communicate with a page management module  420  at the persistence layer  312  that may include a free block manager  422  that monitors page status information  424 , for example the status of physical pages within the storage  314  and logical pages in the persistence layer  312  (and optionally in the page buffer  404 ). The savepoint manager  416  may communicate with a savepoint coordinator  426  at the persistence layer  312  to handle savepoints, which are used to create a consistent persistent state of the database for restart after a possible crash. 
     In some implementations of a data storage application  304 , the page management module of the persistence layer  312  may implement a shadow paging. The free block manager  422  within the page management module  420  may maintain the status of physical pages. The page buffer  404  may include a fixed page status buffer that operates as discussed herein. A converter component  440 , which may be part of or in communication with the page management module  420 , may be responsible for mapping between logical and physical pages written to the storage  314 . The converter  440  may maintain the current mapping of logical pages to the corresponding physical pages in a converter table  442 . The converter  440  may maintain a current mapping of logical pages  406  to the corresponding physical pages in one or more converter tables  442 . When a logical page  406  is read from storage  314 , the storage page to be loaded may be looked up from the one or more converter tables  442  using the converter  440 . When a logical page is written to storage  314  the first time after a savepoint, a new free physical page is assigned to the logical page. The free block manager  422  marks the new physical page as “used” and the new mapping is stored in the one or more converter tables  442 . 
     The persistence layer  312  may ensure that changes made in the data storage application  304  are durable and that the data storage application  304  may be restored to a most recent committed state after a restart. Writing data to the storage  314  need not be synchronized with the end of the writing transaction. As such, uncommitted changes may be written to disk and committed changes may not yet be written to disk when a writing transaction is finished. After a system crash, changes made by transactions that were not finished may be rolled back. Changes occurring by already committed transactions should not be lost in this process. A logger component  444  may also be included to store the changes made to the data of the data storage application in a linear log. The logger component  444  may be used during recovery to replay operations since a last savepoint to ensure that all operations are applied to the data and that transactions with a logged “commit” record are committed before rolling back still-open transactions at the end of a recovery process. 
     With some data storage applications, writing data to a disk is not necessarily synchronized with the end of the writing transaction. Situations may occur in which uncommitted changes are written to disk and while, at the same time, committed changes are not yet written to disk when the writing transaction is finished. After a system crash, changes made by transactions that were not finished must be rolled back and changes by committed transaction must not be lost. 
     To ensure that committed changes are not lost, redo log information may be written by the logger component  444  whenever a change is made. This information may be written to disk at latest when the transaction ends. The log entries may be persisted in separate log volumes while normal data is written to data volumes. With a redo log, committed changes may be restored even if the corresponding data pages were not written to disk. For undoing uncommitted changes, the persistence layer  312  may use a combination of undo log entries (from one or more logs) and shadow paging. 
     The persistence interface  402  may handle read and write requests of stores (e.g., in-memory stores, etc.). The persistence interface  402  may also provide write methods for writing data both with logging and without logging. If the logged write operations are used, the persistence interface  402  invokes the logger  444 . In addition, the logger  444  provides an interface that allows stores (e.g., in-memory stores, etc.) to directly add log entries into a log queue. The logger interface also provides methods to request that log entries in the in-memory log queue are flushed to disk. 
     Log entries contain a log sequence number, the type of the log entry and the identifier of the transaction. Depending on the operation type additional information is logged by the logger  444 . For an entry of type “update”, for example, this would be the identification of the affected record and the after image of the modified data. 
     When the data application  304  is restarted, the log entries need to be processed. To speed up this process the redo log is not always processed from the beginning. Instead, as stated above, savepoints may be periodically performed that write all changes to disk that were made (e.g., in memory, etc.) since the last savepoint. When starting up the system, only the logs created after the last savepoint need to be processed. After the next backup operation the old log entries before the savepoint position may be removed. 
     When the logger  444  is invoked for writing log entries, it does not immediately write to disk. Instead it may put the log entries into a log queue in memory. The entries in the log queue may be written to disk at the latest when the corresponding transaction is finished (committed or aborted). To guarantee that the committed changes are not lost, the commit operation is not successfully finished before the corresponding log entries are flushed to disk. Writing log queue entries to disk may also be triggered by other events, for example when log queue pages are full or when a savepoint is performed. 
     With the current subject matter, the logger  444  may write a database log (or simply referred to herein as a “log”) sequentially into a memory buffer in natural order (e.g., sequential order, etc.). If several physical hard disks/storage devices are used to store log data, several log partitions may be defined. Thereafter, the logger  444  (which as stated above acts to generate and organize log data) may load-balance writing to log buffers over all available log partitions. In some cases, the load-balancing is according to a round-robin distributions scheme in which various writing operations are directed to log buffers in a sequential and continuous manner. With this arrangement, log buffers written to a single log segment of a particular partition of a multi-partition log are not consecutive. However, the log buffers may be reordered from log segments of all partitions during recovery to the proper order. 
     As stated above, the data storage application  304  may use shadow paging so that the savepoint manager  416  may write a transactionally-consistent savepoint. With such an arrangement, a data backup comprises a copy of all data pages contained in a particular savepoint, which was done as the first step of the data backup process. The current subject matter may be also applied to other types of data page storage. 
     In some implementations, the current subject matter may be configured to be implemented in a system  500 , as shown in  FIG.  5   . The system  500  may include a processor  510 , a memory  520 , a storage device  530 , and an input/output device  540 . Each of the components  510 ,  520 ,  530  and  540  may be interconnected using a system bus  550 . The processor  510  may be configured to process instructions for execution within the system  500 . In some implementations, the processor  510  may be a single-threaded processor. In alternate implementations, the processor  510  may be a multi-threaded processor. The processor  510  may be further configured to process instructions stored in the memory  520  or on the storage device  530 , including receiving or sending information through the input/output device  540 . The memory  520  may store information within the system  500 . In some implementations, the memory  520  may be a computer-readable medium. In alternate implementations, the memory  520  may be a volatile memory unit. In yet some implementations, the memory  520  may be a non-volatile memory unit. The storage device  530  may be capable of providing mass storage for the system  500 . In some implementations, the storage device  530  may be a computer-readable medium. In alternate implementations, the storage device  530  may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, a tape device, non-volatile solid state memory, or any other type of storage device. The input/output device  540  may be configured to provide input/output operations for the system  500 . In some implementations, the input/output device  540  may include a keyboard and/or pointing device. In alternate implementations, the input/output device  540  may include a display unit for displaying graphical user interfaces. 
       FIG.  6    illustrates an exemplary method  600  for enabling development testing during evaluation processes, according to some implementations of the current subject matter. The method  600  may be performed by the system shown in  FIG.  1    and in particular the recruiting platform  104 , including its development environment  103 , which may be used by the users  101  and  102  during, for example, an interview process. 
     At  602 , a request to complete one or more computing tasks (e.g., write code, answer questions, etc.) for executing by at least one computing system (e.g., system  100  shown in  FIG.  1   ). At  604 , a development interface (e.g., development environment  103 ) associated with the computing system for developing one or more responses to the received request may be generated. A completion of the computing tasks may include the developed responses (e.g., code, answers to questions, etc.). 
     At  606 , one or more computing applications (e.g., tools  108 , code  118 , cloud applications  122 , etc.) for developing the responses associated with the computing tasks may be accessed based on the received request. At  608 , the tasks may be completed in the development interface. Completion of tasks may include executing the accessed computing applications associated with the developing of the responses by the computing system. At  610 , the completed tasks may be transmitted to the user  102 , for example. 
     In some implementations, the current subject matter may include one or more of the following optional features. The development interface may be a browser-based interface. One or more tasks may include at least one of the following: generating a source code, generating one or more computing functions, generating one or more software applications, generating one or more computing functionalities, providing at least one of a text, graphical, audio, video and image data, and any combination thereof. 
     In some implementations, accessing may include accessing at least one of the following: one or more source code libraries, one or more computing applications external to the development interface, one or more computing applications internal to the development interface, and any combination thereof for developing one or more responses. 
     In some implementations, receiving may include receiving, from a first user, the request to complete one or more computing tasks for executing by at least one computing system, and assigning the received request to at least one second user for completion. The method may also include authenticating, using the development interface, the first and second users. In some implementations, the computing system may be a cloud-based computing system. 
     The systems and methods disclosed herein can be embodied in various forms including, for example, a data processor, such as a computer that also includes a database, digital electronic circuitry, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Moreover, the above-noted features and other aspects and principles of the present disclosed implementations can be implemented in various environments. Such environments and related applications can be specially constructed for performing the various processes and operations according to the disclosed implementations or they can include a general-purpose computer or computing platform selectively activated or reconfigured by code to provide the necessary functionality. The processes disclosed herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, network, architecture, environment, or other apparatus, and can be implemented by a suitable combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, various general-purpose machines can be used with programs written in accordance with teachings of the disclosed implementations, or it can be more convenient to construct a specialized apparatus or system to perform the required methods and techniques. 
     Although ordinal numbers such as first, second, and the like can, in some situations, relate to an order; as used in this document ordinal numbers do not necessarily imply an order. For example, ordinal numbers can be merely used to distinguish one item from another. For example, to distinguish a first event from a second event, but need not imply any chronological ordering or a fixed reference system (such that a first event in one paragraph of the description can be different from a first event in another paragraph of the description). 
     The foregoing description is intended to illustrate but not to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. 
     These computer programs, which can also be referred to programs, software, software applications, applications, components, or code, include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device, such as for example magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, and Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. The machine-readable medium can store such machine instructions non-transitorily, such as for example as would a non-transient solid state memory or a magnetic hard drive or any equivalent storage medium. The machine-readable medium can alternatively or additionally store such machine instructions in a transient manner, such as for example as would a processor cache or other random access memory associated with one or more physical processor cores. 
     To provide for interaction with a user, the subject matter described herein can be implemented on a computer having a display device, such as for example a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, such as for example a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well. For example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, such as for example visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including, but not limited to, acoustic, speech, or tactile input. 
     The subject matter described herein can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, such as for example one or more data servers, or that includes a middleware component, such as for example one or more application servers, or that includes a front-end component, such as for example one or more client computers having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described herein, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, such as for example a communication network. Examples of communication networks include, but are not limited to, a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet. 
     The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally, but not exclusively, remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. 
     The implementations set forth in the foregoing description do not represent all implementations consistent with the subject matter described herein. Instead, they are merely some examples consistent with aspects related to the described subject matter. Although a few variations have been described in detail above, other modifications or additions are possible. In particular, further features and/or variations can be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, the implementations described above can be directed to various combinations and sub-combinations of the disclosed features and/or combinations and sub-combinations of several further features disclosed above. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the accompanying figures and/or described herein do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other implementations can be within the scope of the following claims.