PCAP-31-03 Practice Exam: PCAP – Certified Associate in Python Programming Certification

PCAP Certified Associate in Python Programming Certification is a comprehensive mock exam with emphasis on using the PCAP-31-03 Syllabus as guide on the question topic. The audience should have basic knowledge in Python or have a good grasp on other programming language because this is not a tutorial.

All questions are based on individual topics in the syllabus. Some of the topics may not be thoroughly covered but each and every topic in the syllabus have a corresponding question with sufficient representation.

Exam block #1: Modules and Packages

• import variants; advanced qualifiying for nested modules
• dir(); sys.path variable
• math: ceil(), floor(), trunc(), factorial(), hypot(), sqrt(); random: random(), seed(), choice(), sample()
• platform: platform(), machine(), processor(), system(), version(), python_implementation(), python_version_tuple()
• idea, __pycache__, __name__, public variables, __init__.py
• searching for modules/packages; nested packages vs directory tree

Exam block #2: Exceptions

• except, except:-except; except:-else:, except (e1,e2)
• the hierarchy of exceptions
• raise, raise ex, assert
• event classes, except E as e, arg property
• self-defined exceptions, defining and using

Exam block #3: Strings

• ASCII, UNICODE, UTF-8, codepoints, escape sequences
• ord(), chr(), literals
• indexing, slicing, immutability
• iterating through,
• concatenating, multiplying, comparing (against strings and numbers)
• in, not in
• .isxxx(), .join(), .split()
• .sort(), sorted(), .index(), .find(), .rfind()

Exam block #4: Object-Oriented Programming

• ideas: class, object, property, method, encapsulation, inheritance, grammar vs class, superclass, subclass
• instance vs class variables: declaring, initializing
• __dict__ property (objects vs classes)
• private components (instance vs classes), name mangling
• methods: declaring, using, self parameter
• instrospection: hasattr() (objects vs classes), __name__, __module__, __bases__ properties
• inheritance: single, multiple, isinstance(), overriding, not is and is operators
• inheritance: single, multiple, isinstance(), overriding, not is and is operators
• constructors: declaring and invoking
• polymorphism
• __name__, __module__, __bases__ properties, __str__() method
• multiple inheritance, diamonds

Exam block #5: Miscellaneous (List Comprehensions, Lambdas, Closures, and I/O Operations)

• list comprehension: if operator, using list comprehensions
• lambdas: defining and using lambdas, self-defined functions taking lambda as as arguments; map(), filter();
• closures: meaning, defining, and using closures
• I/O Operations: I/O modes, predefined streams, handles; text/binary modes
  open(), errno and its values; close()
  .read(), .write(), .readline(); readlines() (along with bytearray())

Bonus block

• Language fundamentals

Questions in the Practice tests are much more difficult than what is included in the Certified Associate in Python Programming Certification. I recommend doing hands-on to test the validity of the answers and emphasize on the importance of coding different permutations and combinations on the examples given.

All questions are already self-explanatory and most of them are without an explanation. It will be easier to understand if the code is run on IDLE or your favorite Python IDE if you have another preference.