Code generation agent design in Agentic AI - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Key components of a code generation agent

Which of the following is NOT typically a core component of a code generation agent?

A A hardware driver to control physical devices

B A code synthesis engine to generate code snippets

C A feedback loop to refine generated code based on testing

D A natural language understanding module to interpret user requests

💡 Hint

Think about what parts are needed to understand, generate, and improve code.

A hardware driver is unrelated to code generation agents, which focus on interpreting requests, generating code, and improving it through feedback.

❓ Model Choice

intermediate

Choosing a model architecture for code generation

Which model architecture is most suitable for generating code from natural language prompts?

A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)

B Transformer-based language model

C Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) with attention

D K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)

💡 Hint

Consider which architecture handles long-range dependencies and sequences best.

Transformer models excel at understanding and generating sequences like code and natural language due to their attention mechanisms.

❓ Hyperparameter

advanced

Impact of temperature in code generation sampling

In a code generation agent using a language model, what is the effect of increasing the temperature parameter during sampling?

A The model runs faster but with lower accuracy

B The generated code becomes more deterministic and repetitive

C The generated code becomes more random and diverse

D The model ignores the input prompt

💡 Hint

Temperature controls randomness in output choices.

Higher temperature increases randomness, leading to more diverse but less predictable code outputs.

❓ Metrics

advanced

Evaluating code generation quality

Which metric best measures how well a code generation agent produces syntactically correct and functional code?

A Code execution success rate on test cases

B BLEU score comparing generated code to reference code

C Perplexity of the language model on training data

D Training loss value after model convergence

💡 Hint

Think about what shows the code actually works as intended.

Execution success rate directly measures if generated code runs correctly and passes tests, which is crucial for quality.

🔧 Debug

expert

Identifying the cause of poor code generation output

A code generation agent frequently produces code with syntax errors despite training on clean data. Which is the MOST likely cause?

A The optimizer learning rate is too low

B The model uses a transformer architecture instead of an RNN

C The temperature parameter is set to zero during sampling

D The training dataset contains many incomplete or truncated code snippets

💡 Hint

Consider what data quality issues can cause syntax errors in output.

Incomplete or truncated code in training data teaches the model incorrect syntax patterns, causing errors in generated code.

Practice

1.

What is the main purpose of a code generation agent in AI?

easy

A. To execute code faster than a computer

B. To manually debug code written by humans

C. To automatically write code from given instructions

D. To replace all human programmers completely

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the role of a code generation agent

   A code generation agent is designed to write code automatically based on instructions it receives.

2. Step 2: Compare options with this role

   Only To automatically write code from given instructions matches this purpose. Other options describe unrelated tasks.

3. Final Answer:

   To automatically write code from given instructions -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Code generation agent purpose = automatic code writing [OK]

Hint: Focus on automatic code writing, not manual or execution tasks [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing code generation with debugging
• Thinking it executes code faster
• Assuming it replaces all programmers

2.

Which of the following is the correct way to instruct a code generation agent to create a Python function named add that returns the sum of two numbers?

easy

A. Define add to subtract two numbers

B. Function add returns x minus y

C. Create add function that multiplies x and y

D. Write a function add(x, y) that returns x + y

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the correct instruction for addition

   The instruction must specify a function named add that returns the sum (x + y).

2. Step 2: Check each option

   Write a function add(x, y) that returns x + y correctly instructs to write a function add(x, y) returning x + y. Others describe subtraction or multiplication.

3. Final Answer:

   Write a function add(x, y) that returns x + y -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Correct function instruction = Write a function add(x, y) that returns x + y [OK]

Hint: Look for 'returns x + y' to identify addition function [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing instructions for subtraction or multiplication
• Ignoring function name or return statement
• Confusing wording of instructions

3.

Given this instruction to a code generation agent: Write a Python function multiply that returns the product of two numbers. Which of the following code outputs is correct when calling multiply(3, 4)?

medium

A. 7

B. 12

C. 34

D. Error

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the function's purpose

   The function multiply should return the product of two numbers, so multiply(3, 4) should return 3 * 4 = 12.

2. Step 2: Evaluate each output option

   12 is 12, which matches the expected product. Others are incorrect or errors.

3. Final Answer:

   12 -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   3 * 4 = 12 [OK]

Hint: Multiply inputs to find correct output [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Adding instead of multiplying
• Concatenating numbers as strings
• Assuming function causes error

4.

Consider this code generated by an agent:

def divide(x, y):
    return x / y

result = divide(10, 0)

What is the main issue with this code?

medium

A. Runtime error due to division by zero

B. Logical error returning wrong result

C. Syntax error due to missing colon

D. No issue, code runs correctly

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the function call

   The function divide is called with y=0, which causes division by zero.

2. Step 2: Identify the error type

   Division by zero causes a runtime error (ZeroDivisionError) in Python.

3. Final Answer:

   Runtime error due to division by zero -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Divide by zero causes runtime error [OK]

Hint: Check for zero in denominator to spot division errors [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking it's a syntax error
• Assuming code runs without error
• Confusing logical error with runtime error

5.

You want a code generation agent to create a Python function that filters out all negative numbers from a list and returns the positive numbers only. Which instruction will most likely produce the correct function?

hard

A. Write a function that returns only positive numbers from the list

B. Write a function that returns all numbers less than zero from the list

C. Write a function that returns the sum of all numbers in the list

D. Write a function that returns the list sorted in descending order

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the filtering goal

   The goal is to keep only positive numbers, so the instruction must specify returning positive numbers.

2. Step 2: Evaluate each instruction

   Write a function that returns only positive numbers from the list correctly asks for a function returning only positive numbers. Others do different tasks.

3. Final Answer:

   Write a function that returns only positive numbers from the list -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Filter positive numbers = Write a function that returns only positive numbers from the list [OK]

Hint: Look for 'returns only positive numbers' in instruction [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing instructions that filter negatives instead
• Confusing filtering with summing or sorting
• Ignoring the word 'positive' in instruction