PCAP Certified Associate in Python Programming Exam — Questions and Answers

Question 1: How do you define a class variable (shared by all instances) in Python?

Use the global keyword
Declare it outside any method, inside the class body (Correct answer)
Use the shared keyword
Declare it inside __init__ using self

Correct answer: Declare it outside any method, inside the class body

Class variables are defined in the class body outside any method and are shared by all instances.

Question 2: Which of the following statements will correctly check if a variable a is equal to 10?

if (a == 10)
if a === 10:
if a = 10:
if a == 10: (Correct answer)

Correct answer: if a == 10:

The == operator is used to check equality, and the correct syntax for an if statement in Python ends with a colon.

Question 3: Which of the following is the most common practical use case for closures in Python?

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

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

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

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

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

Correct answer: Re-raises the currently handled exception

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

Question 6: What is the `nonlocal` keyword used for inside a nested function?

To access global variables without writing the global keyword
To import names from an enclosing module's namespace
To declare a constant that cannot be reassigned
To modify a variable defined in the nearest enclosing non-global scope (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To modify a variable defined in the nearest enclosing non-global scope

`nonlocal` tells Python that an assignment in the nested function targets the variable in the enclosing scope rather than creating a new local variable.

Question 7: What happens if no exception is raised in a `try` block that has an `else` clause?

The else block is executed (Correct answer)
A warning is issued
The else block is skipped
The program restarts

Correct answer: The else block is executed

The `else` block runs only when no exception is raised in the `try` block.

Question 8: Which attribute of a function object holds the variables captured by its closure?

__captured__
__globals__
__dict__
__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 9: What is the `@my_decorator` syntax exactly equivalent to when placed above `def func(): ...`?

my_decorator.apply(func)
func = func(my_decorator)
func = my_decorator(func) (Correct answer)
func.__decorator__ = my_decorator

Correct answer: func = my_decorator(func)

`@my_decorator` is syntactic sugar: Python calls `my_decorator(func)` and rebinds the name `func` to whatever is returned.

Question 10: What is a closure in Python?

A function that returns multiple values using a tuple
A function that blocks access to global variables
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)

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 11: 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 12: Which method joins a list of strings with a separator?

list.join(sep)
merge(list, sep)
str.concat(list, sep)
sep.join(list) (Correct answer)

Correct answer: sep.join(list)

`separator.join(iterable)` concatenates iterable elements using the separator string.

Question 13: Which module provides `namedtuple` for creating tuple subclasses with named fields?

struct
typing
dataclasses
collections (Correct answer)

Correct answer: collections

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

Question 14: What is the correct file extension for Python files?

.pyt
.python
.py (Correct answer)
.pt

Correct answer: .py

Python files have the extension .py

Question 15: Which file mode opens a file for appending without truncating existing content?

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

Correct answer: 'a'

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

Question 16: Which of the following correctly defines a subclass `Dog` inheriting from `Animal`?

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

Correct answer: class Dog(Animal):

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

Question 17: What is the purpose of the `assert` statement in Python?

To assign default values
To test a condition and raise AssertionError if false (Correct answer)
To skip code blocks
To raise a KeyError

Correct answer: To test a condition and raise AssertionError if false

`assert` tests a condition and raises `AssertionError` if the condition evaluates to False.

Question 18: What is method overriding in Python OOP?

Calling a method twice
Defining a method with the same name in a subclass (Correct answer)
Adding extra parameters to a method
Deleting a parent class method

Correct answer: Defining a method with the same name in a subclass

Method overriding means redefining a parent class method in a child class with the same name.

Question 19: Which method replaces occurrences of a substring in a string?

swap()
replace() (Correct answer)
substitute()
change()

Correct answer: replace()

`str.replace(old, new)` returns a new string with all occurrences of `old` replaced by `new`.

Question 20: Which exception is raised when dividing by zero in Python?

ValueError
ZeroDivisionError (Correct answer)
ArithmeticError
MathError

Correct answer: ZeroDivisionError

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

Question 21: Which built-in function is used to open a file in Python?

read()
file()
open() (Correct answer)
load()

Correct answer: open()

The `open()` function opens a file and returns a file object for reading or writing.

Question 22: Which method would you use to add an item to the end of a list in Python?

insert()
append() (Correct answer)
extend()
add()

Correct answer: append()

The append() method adds an item to the end of a list.

Question 23: What does the `zip()` function do?

Sorts two lists together
Compresses files
Creates a zipped archive
Combines multiple iterables element-by-element into tuples (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Combines multiple iterables element-by-element into tuples

`zip()` pairs elements from multiple iterables into tuples, stopping at the shortest iterable.

Question 24: Which module provides tools for working with dates and times in Python?

calendar
time
datetime (Correct answer)
clock

Correct answer: datetime

The `datetime` module provides classes for manipulating dates and times.

Question 25: What is the purpose of the `init` method in a Python class?

To initialize a new instance (Correct answer)
To copy an object
To define class variables
To destroy an object

Correct answer: To initialize a new instance

`__init__` is the constructor method called automatically when a new object is created.

Question 26: Which built-in function applies a function to every item in an iterable?

filter()
apply()
map() (Correct answer)
each()

Correct answer: map()

`map()` applies a function to each element of an iterable and returns a map object.

Question 27: What will the following code print? def decorator(func): calls = [] def wrapper(*args, **kwargs): calls.append(args) return func(*args, **kwargs) wrapper.call_log = calls return wrapper @decorator def add(a, b): return a + b add(1, 2) add(3, 4) print(len(add.call_log))

1
0
2 (Correct answer)
AttributeError: 'function' object has no attribute 'call_log'

Correct answer: 2

`calls` is a mutable list captured in the closure and also attached to `wrapper` as `call_log`; after two calls, both references point to the same list with 2 entries.

Question 28: What is a closure in Python?

A function that captures variables from its enclosing scope (Correct answer)
A decorator pattern
A class with private attributes
A module with restricted access

Correct answer: A function that captures variables from its enclosing scope

A closure is a function that remembers the variables from its enclosing scope even after that scope has exited.

Question 29: What does `except Exception as e:` allow you to do?

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

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 30: When the following decorators are applied, in what order are they executed? @decorator_a @decorator_b def func(): pass

decorator_b wraps func first (innermost), then decorator_a wraps the result (outermost) (Correct answer)
Both decorators are applied simultaneously in an unspecified order
decorator_a is applied first, then decorator_b is applied to that result
The order is determined by each decorator's priority attribute

Correct answer: decorator_b wraps func first (innermost), then decorator_a wraps the result (outermost)

Decorators are applied bottom-up: `decorator_b(func)` is evaluated first, and then `decorator_a` receives that result.

Question 31: Which exception is raised when a variable is used before it is assigned?

NameError (Correct answer)
SyntaxError
ReferenceError
AttributeError

Correct answer: NameError

`NameError` is raised when a local or global name is not found.

Question 32: Which of the following is used to define a function in Python?

function
define
def (Correct answer)
func

Correct answer: def

The def keyword is used to define a function in Python.

Question 33: Which string method converts all characters to uppercase?

swapcase()
upper() (Correct answer)
capitalize()
title()

Correct answer: upper()

`str.upper()` returns a new string with all characters converted to uppercase.

Question 34: What does the `super()` function do in Python?

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

Correct answer: Calls a method from the parent class

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

Question 35: What does a generator expression return compared to a list comprehension?

A lazy iterator evaluated on demand (Correct answer)
A tuple
A set
A list evaluated immediately

Correct answer: A lazy iterator evaluated on demand

A generator expression (using parentheses) returns an iterator that yields values lazily, using less memory.

Question 36: What does `**kwargs` allow in a function definition?

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

Correct answer: Variable keyword arguments as a dictionary

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

Question 37: What does the `'b'` flag in `open('file', 'rb')` indicate?

Backup mode
Block mode
Buffered mode
Binary mode (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Binary mode

The `'b'` flag opens the file in binary mode, reading/writing raw bytes instead of text.

Question 38: What will the following code print? def outer(): x = 10 def inner(): print(x) x = 20 return inner f = outer() f()

None
NameError: name 'x' is not defined
10
20 (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 20

Closures capture the variable binding (a reference to the cell), not a snapshot of the value at definition time, so `x` is 20 when `inner` runs.

Question 39: What does `sorted()` return?

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

Correct answer: A new sorted list

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

Question 40: What does `all` in a module control?

The module's docstring
All global variables
All function signatures
Which names are exported when `from module import *` is used (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Which names are exported when `from module import *` is used

`__all__` is a list that defines the public interface of a module for wildcard imports.

Question 41: How do you import only the `sqrt` function from the `math` module?

from math import sqrt (Correct answer)
import sqrt from math
import math.sqrt
include math.sqrt

Correct answer: from math import sqrt

The `from module import name` syntax imports a specific name from a module.

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%

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