PCAP Certified Associate in Python Programming Exam — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Which exception is raised when dividing by zero in Python?

ArithmeticError
ValueError
MathError
ZeroDivisionError (Correct answer)

Correct answer: ZeroDivisionError

`ZeroDivisionError` is raised when attempting to divide a number by zero.

Question 2: Which keyword is used to handle exceptions in Python?

rescue
catch
except (Correct answer)
handle

Correct answer: except

The `except` clause in a `try` block is used to catch and handle exceptions.

Question 3: What does `sorted()` return?

A sorted tuple
The original list sorted in place
A sorted iterator
A new sorted list (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A new sorted list

`sorted()` returns a new sorted list without modifying the original iterable.

Question 4: Which method reads the entire file content as a single string?

readline()
fetch()
readlines()
read() (Correct answer)

Correct answer: read()

`file.read()` reads the entire file and returns it as a single string.

Question 5: What is a set comprehension in Python?

[x for x in iterable]
set(x for x in iterable)
(x for x in iterable)
{x for x in iterable} (Correct answer)

Correct answer: {x for x in iterable}

Set comprehensions use curly braces without key-value pairs: `{expression for item in iterable}`.

Question 6: Which block always executes regardless of whether an exception occurred?

try
else
finally (Correct answer)
except

Correct answer: finally

The `finally` block always runs whether or not an exception was raised, used for cleanup.

Question 7: What does `**kwargs` allow in a function definition?

Variable keyword arguments as a dictionary (Correct answer)
Variable positional arguments
Forced keyword-only arguments
Default arguments

Correct answer: Variable keyword arguments as a dictionary

`**kwargs` collects extra keyword arguments into a dictionary inside the function.

Question 8: What will the following code print? def outer(x): def inner(y): return x + y return inner add5 = outer(5) print(add5(3))

5
TypeError: unsupported operand type
3
8 (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 8

`outer(5)` returns `inner` with `x` closed over as 5, so calling `add5(3)` computes 5 + 3 = 8.

Question 9: Which keyword is used to define a class in Python?

class (Correct answer)
def
struct
object

Correct answer: class

The `class` keyword is used to define a class in Python.

Question 10: How do you split a string `s` by commas?

s.divide(',')
split(s, ',')
s.cut(',')
s.split(',') (Correct answer)

Correct answer: s.split(',')

`str.split(delimiter)` splits the string at each occurrence of the delimiter and returns a list.

Question 11: Which method checks if a string starts with a given prefix?

beginswith()
startswith() (Correct answer)
prefix()
starts()

Correct answer: startswith()

`str.startswith(prefix)` returns True if the string starts with the specified prefix.

Question 12: What does the `@classmethod` decorator do?

Makes a method private
Makes a method run at class creation
Prevents overriding
Passes the class as the first argument instead of the instance (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Passes the class as the first argument instead of the instance

A class method receives the class (`cls`) as its first argument instead of the instance (`self`).

Question 13: Which attribute stores the name of a class in Python?

__type__
__classname__
__name__
__class__.__name__ (Correct answer)

Correct answer: __class__.__name__

`__class__.__name__` returns the name of the class of an object as a string.

Question 14: What does the `self` parameter represent in a Python class method?

A global variable
The current instance (Correct answer)
The parent class
The class itself

Correct answer: The current instance

`self` refers to the current object instance on which the method is being called.

Question 15: What is encapsulation in object-oriented programming?

Using multiple classes at once
Overriding parent methods
Bundling data and methods within a class (Correct answer)
Inheriting methods from a parent class

Correct answer: Bundling data and methods within a class

Encapsulation bundles data (attributes) and behavior (methods) together inside a class.

Question 16: How do you create a custom exception class in Python?

Inherit from object
Use the @exception decorator
Inherit from Exception (Correct answer)
Inherit from BaseError

Correct answer: Inherit from Exception

Custom exceptions are created by subclassing `Exception` or one of its subclasses.

Question 17: Which string method counts non-overlapping occurrences of a substring?

occurrences()
find_all()
frequency()
count() (Correct answer)

Correct answer: count()

`str.count(sub)` returns the number of non-overlapping occurrences of the substring.

Question 18: How do you create an instance of a class named `Car`?

Car.new()
instance(Car)
new Car()
Car() (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Car()

You instantiate a class by calling it like a function: `Car()`.

Question 19: What is a generator function in Python?

A function that returns a list
A function using `yield` to produce a sequence lazily (Correct answer)
A factory function
A function that generates random numbers

Correct answer: A function using `yield` to produce a sequence lazily

A generator function uses `yield` to produce values one at a time, suspending state between calls.

Question 20: What is polymorphism in Python?

Using multiple inheritance
Multiple classes responding to the same interface (Correct answer)
A method with default parameters
A class with many attributes

Correct answer: Multiple classes responding to the same interface

Polymorphism allows different classes to be used through the same interface by implementing the same methods.

Question 21: What will be the output of the following code?

Hello World (Correct answer)
HelloWorld
Hello + World
HelloWorld

Correct answer: Hello World

The + operator concatenates strings in Python, and adding " " between x and y results in "Hello World".

Question 22: What does `except Exception as e:` allow you to do?

Skip the except block
Re-raise the exception
Suppress all exceptions
Access the exception object via the variable `e` (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Access the exception object via the variable `e`

The `as e` clause binds the caught exception object to the name `e` for inspection.

Question 23: What is a closure in Python?

A class that implements the __call__ method to behave like a function
An inner function that captures and remembers variables from the enclosing scope even after the outer function has returned (Correct answer)
A function that blocks access to global variables
A function that returns multiple values using a tuple

Correct answer: An inner function that captures and remembers variables from the enclosing scope even after the outer function has returned

A closure is a nested function that retains access to variables from its enclosing scope, allowing those variables to persist beyond the outer function's lifetime.

Question 24: Which attribute of a function object holds the variables captured by its closure?

__dict__
__globals__
__captured__
__closure__ (Correct answer)

Correct answer: __closure__

`func.__closure__` is a tuple of cell objects, each holding the value of one variable captured from the enclosing scope.

Question 25: What does `functools.wraps` do when used in a decorator?

Prevents the decorator from running
Preserves the original function's metadata (Correct answer)
Speeds up function execution
Adds logging automatically

Correct answer: Preserves the original function's metadata

`functools.wraps` copies the original function's `__name__`, `__doc__`, etc. to the wrapper function.

Question 26: Which method is called when an object is deleted or garbage collected?

__end__
__destroy__
__del__ (Correct answer)
__init__

Correct answer: __del__

`__del__` is the destructor method called when an object is about to be destroyed.

Question 27: Which data type is used to store text in Python?

float
int
str (Correct answer)
bool

Correct answer: str

The str data type is used to store text in Python

Question 28: Which module provides `namedtuple` for creating tuple subclasses with named fields?

typing
dataclasses
collections (Correct answer)
struct

Correct answer: collections

`collections.namedtuple` creates tuple subclasses with named fields for readable attribute access.

Question 29: Which file mode opens a file for appending without truncating existing content?

'r+'
'a' (Correct answer)
'x'
'w'

Correct answer: 'a'

Mode `'a'` opens a file for appending; writes go to the end without erasing existing data.

Question 30: What mode string opens a file for writing, creating it if it does not exist and truncating if it does?

'a'
'w' (Correct answer)
'x'
'r'

Correct answer: 'w'

Mode `'w'` opens a file for writing, creating it if absent and clearing it if it exists.

Question 31: Which of the following is the most common practical use case for closures in Python?

Replacing class-based inheritance hierarchies entirely
Speeding up loops by caching loop indices
Catching exceptions without using try/except blocks
Factory functions that return specialized functions with pre-configured parameters (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Factory functions that return specialized functions with pre-configured parameters

Closures are frequently used as factory functions (e.g., `make_adder(n)` returns a function that adds `n`) to produce families of related functions that carry private state.

Question 32: What does the f-string `f'Hello {name}'` do?

Creates a raw string
Formats a float
Encodes the string to bytes
Inserts the value of `name` into the string (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Inserts the value of `name` into the string

f-strings (formatted string literals) evaluate expressions in `{}` and embed them in the string.

Question 33: What is the result of `list(zip([1,2,3], [4,5]))`?

[(1,4),(2,5)] (Correct answer)
[(1,4),(2,5),(3,None)]
[(1,4),(2,5),(3,5)]
[(1,2,3),(4,5)]

Correct answer: [(1,4),(2,5)]

`zip()` stops at the shortest iterable, so only the first two pairs are produced.

Question 34: Which built-in function returns the sum of all elements in an iterable?

total()
reduce()
sum() (Correct answer)
add()

Correct answer: sum()

`sum(iterable)` returns the total of all numeric elements in the iterable.

Question 35: What does `itertools.chain([1,2], [3,4])` produce?

[[1,2],[3,4]]
An iterator yielding 1,2,3,4 (Correct answer)
A zip of the two lists
A combined sorted list

Correct answer: An iterator yielding 1,2,3,4

`itertools.chain()` creates a single iterator that yields elements from multiple iterables in sequence.

Question 36: What does `raise` without an argument do inside an `except` block?

Suppresses the exception
Creates a new exception chain
Raises a new RuntimeError
Re-raises the currently handled exception (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Re-raises the currently handled exception

A bare `raise` statement re-raises the most recently caught exception with its original traceback.

Question 37: What is the output of the following code?

8 (Correct answer)
23
6
9
print(2 ** 3)

Correct answer: 8

The ** operator in Python is used for exponentiation. 2 ** 3 equals 8.

Question 38: What does the `global` keyword do inside a function?

Imports a global module
Creates a new global variable
Declares that a variable refers to the global scope (Correct answer)
Prevents variable modification

Correct answer: Declares that a variable refers to the global scope

`global` tells Python that the variable inside the function refers to the global namespace, not a local one.

Question 39: Which of the following correctly defines a subclass `Dog` inheriting from `Animal`?

class Dog inherits Animal:
class Dog extends Animal:
class Dog(Animal): (Correct answer)
class Dog: Animal

Correct answer: class Dog(Animal):

Python uses parentheses after the class name to specify the parent class for inheritance.

Question 40: What does the `super()` function do in Python?

Deletes the parent class
Calls a method from the parent class (Correct answer)
Converts to a supertype
Creates a superclass

Correct answer: Calls a method from the parent class

`super()` returns a proxy object that delegates method calls to the parent class.

Question 41: Which keyword is used in a generator function to produce a value?

send
emit
return
yield (Correct answer)

Correct answer: yield

`yield` suspends the function and sends a value to the caller, resuming on the next iteration.

PCAP Certified Associate in Python Programming Exam

The PCAP-31-03 exam by the Python Institute certifies intermediate Python programmers, assessing their ability to design, write, and debug multi-module programs using object-oriented programming, exception handling, string processing, modules, and file I/O.

Questions

65 min

Time Limit

70%

To Pass

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These practice questions were written with AI tools. They are not real exam questions. Exam facts are checked against the official sources listed below. Not reviewed by a subject-matter expert. Editorial policy

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