IKM Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield IKM facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is the purpose of code refactoring? → Improve internal code structure without changing external behavior
2. What is a zero-day vulnerability? → Unknown flaw exploited before a patch exists
3. What is the function of a VPN? → Create an encrypted tunnel over public networks
4. Which of the following financial statements provides a snapshot of a company's financial position at a specific point in time? → Balance Sheet
5. Which chart type is most appropriate for showing the distribution of a single continuous variable? → Histogram
6. What is the purpose of a semaphore? → Synchronize access to shared resources between processes
7. In object-oriented design, what is the primary purpose of defining a class with `private` attributes and `public` methods (getters and setters)? → To enforce encapsulation by controlling access to the object's internal state.
8. In the V-Model of software development, which testing level is designed to directly validate the Architectural Design phase? → Integration Testing
9. In the context of workplace communication, what is the primary goal of active listening? → To fully concentrate on, understand, respond to, and remember what is being said.
10. Which design pattern ensures a class has only one instance? → Singleton
11. What is a CMDB used for in IT service management? → Tracking IT assets and their relationships
12. Which type of data analysis focuses on understanding what happened in the past by examining historical data? → Descriptive analysis
13. What is the purpose of a load balancer in web application architecture? → To distribute incoming traffic across multiple servers
14. What is the Dunning-Kruger effect? → Low-ability people overestimate competence; highly skilled underestimate
15. What is LVM used for? → Flexible disk storage by abstracting physical disks into logical volumes
16. What is technical debt? → Implied cost of future rework from choosing quick solutions over proper ones
17. Which wireless encryption standard is currently recommended? → WPA3
18. In which type of operating system is time-sharing a common feature? → Multi-user OS
19. What is polymorphism in OOP? → Different objects respond to the same method call differently
20. What is a project charter? → Formal authorization document with initial requirements and stakeholders
21. In a data warehouse, what is a 'fact table'? → A table that stores the measurable, quantitative data for analysis
22. What does "API" stand for in software development? → Application Programming Interface
23. Which SQL aggregate function would you use to count the number of non-NULL values in a column? → COUNT()
24. What is the primary advantage of using a 'star schema' over a fully normalized schema in a data warehouse? → Star schemas simplify queries and improve read performance for analytical workloads
25. What is the purpose of an IDS? → Monitor traffic for suspicious activity and generate alerts
26. What is boundary value analysis? → Testing at edges of input ranges where defects are most likely
27. What is the purpose of an adjusting journal entry? → Update account balances for accruals and deferrals at period end
28. Which system call creates a new process in Unix/Linux? → fork()
29. Which RAID level provides disk mirroring without striping? → RAID 1
30. What is the primary function of Active Directory in a Windows environment? → Centralized identity and access management