​Chapter 1: Introduction

PCAP™ – Certified Associate in Python Programming certification is a widely recognized and respected certification in the field of Python programming. The exam, which is offered by the Python Institute, is designed to test the knowledge and skills of individuals who are proficient in the Python programming language. This certification is ideal for those who are new to programming or who have some experience with Python and are looking to further their skills and advance in their careers.

This certification focuses on the Object-Oriented Programming approach to Python, and shows that the individual is familiar with the more advanced aspects of programming, including the essentials of OOP, the essentials of modules and packages, the exception handling mechanism in OOP, advanced operations on strings, list comprehensions, lambdas, generators, closures, and file processing.

PCAP™ certification gives its holders confidence in their programming skills, helps them stand out in the job market, and gives them a head start on preparing for and advancing to the professional level.

PCAP™ certification is a valuable credential for individuals looking to acquire the skills and knowledge essential to continue to more advanced, more specialized, and higher paying Software Development, Security, Networking, IoT, and engineering roles. It will particularly appeal to:

●  aspiring programmers and learners interested in learning programming for fun and job-related tasks;

●  learners and career changers seeking a junior-level job role as a software developer, data analyst, or tester.

●  industry professionals wishing to explore technologies that are connected with Python, or that utilize it as a foundation;

●  aspiring programmers and industry professionals looking to build a solid foundation for further studies in more specialized areas, such as testing, data analytics, machine learning, IoT, and web development;

●  team leaders, product managers, and project managers who want to understand the terminology and processes in the software development cycle to more effectively manage and communicate with production and development teams.

​1.1 The Candidate’s Profile

The test candidate who has passed the PCAP-31-0x exam demonstrates the following proficiency in Python programming:

●  an ability to design, develop and improve multi-module computer applications coded in Python

●  an ability to analyze and model real-life problems in OOP categories

●  experience allowing her/him to take a job as a junior developer

●  sufficient skills to create and develop her/his own programming portfolio

●  the potential to use Python in everyday life applications including DIY activities

​1.2 About the Exam

The PCAP-Certified Associate Python Programming exam consists of multiple-choice questions that cover a wide range of topics related to Python programming. The exam is divided into two sections: the first section covers basic programming concepts and the second section covers more advanced topics such as file handling, object-oriented programming, and error handling.

Refer the details in this table for further clarification:

​1.3 How to Prepare?

To prepare for this Exam, it is recommended that individuals have a solid understanding of the Python programming language and its core concepts, including variables, data types, control structures, functions, and modules. It is also important to have experience with basic programming concepts such as algorithms and data structures.

In addition to knowledge of the Python programming language and basic programming concepts, individuals should also have experience with the following:

●  Working with Python development environments

●  Creating and running Python programs

●  Using Python libraries and modules

●  Debugging Python code

To pass the PCAP-Certified Associate Python Programming exam, individuals should have a solid understanding of the Python programming language and its core concepts, as well as the ability to apply this knowledge to real-world programming tasks. By preparing well and having a good understanding of the Python programming language, you can pass the PCAP-Certified Associate Python Programming exam with flying colors.

​Chapter 2: Domains Covered

​Section 1: Modules and Packages (12%)

Objectives covered by the block (6 exam items)

PCAP-31-03 1.1 – Import and use modules and packages

●  import variants: import, from import, import as, import *

●  advanced qualifying for nested modules

●  the dir() function

●  the sys.path variable

PCAP-31-03 1.2 – Perform evaluations using the math module

●  functions: ceil(), floor(), trunc(), factorial(), hypot(), sqrt()

PCAP-31-03 1.3 – Generate random values using the random module

●  functions: random(), seed(), choice(), sample()

PCAP-31-03 1.4 – Discover host platform properties using the platform module

●  functions: platform(), machine(), processor(), system(), version(), python_implementation(), python_version_tuple()

PCAP-31-03 1.5 – Create and use user-defined modules and packages

●  idea and rationale;

●  the __pycache__ directory

●  the __name__ variable

●  public and private variables

●  the __init__.py file

●  searching for/through modules/packages

●  nested packages vs. directory trees

​Section 2: Exceptions (14%)

Objectives covered by the block (5 exam items)

PCAP-31-03 2.1 – Handle errors using Python-defined exceptions

●  except, except:-except, except:-else:, except (e1, e2)

●  the hierarchy of exceptions

●  raise, raise ex

●  assert

●  event classes

●  except E as e

●  the arg property

PCAP-31-02 2.2 – Extend the Python exceptions hierarchy with self-defined exceptions

●  self-defined exceptions

●  defining and using self-defined exceptions

​Section 3: Strings (18%)

Objectives covered by the block (8 exam items)

PCAP-31-03 3.1 – Understand machine representation of characters

●  encoding standards: ASCII, UNICODE, UTF-8, code points, escape sequences

PCAP-31-03 3.2 – Operate on strings

●  functions: ord(), chr()

●  indexing, slicing, immutability

●  iterating through strings, concatenating, multiplying, comparing (against strings and numbers)

●  operators: in, not in

PCAP-31-03 3.3 – Employ built-in string methods

●  methods: .isxxx(), .join(), .split(), .sort(), sorted(), .index(), .find(), .rfind()

​Section 4: Object-Oriented Programming (34%)

Objectives covered by the block (12 exam items)

PCAP-31-03 4.1 – Understand the Object-Oriented approach

●  ideas and notions: class, object, property, method, encapsulation, inheritance, superclass, subclass, identifying class components

PCEP-31-03 4.2 – Employ class and object properties

●  instance vs. class variables: declarations and initializations

●  the __dict__ property (objects vs. classes)

●  private components (instances vs. classes)

●  name mangling

PCAP-31-03 4.3 – Equip a class with methods

●  declaring and using methods

●  the self parameter

PCAP-31-03 4.4 – Discover the class structure

●  introspection and the hasattr() function (objects vs classes)

●  properties: __name__, __module__ , __bases__

PCAP-31-03 4.5 – Build a class hierarchy using inheritance

●  single and multiple inheritance

●  the isinstance() function

●  overriding

●  operators:

●  not is, is

●  polymorphism

●  overriding the __str__() method

●  diamonds

PCAP-31-03 4.6 – Construct and initialize objects

●  declaring and invoking constructors

​Section 5: Miscellaneous (22%)

Scope: List Comprehensions, Lambdas, Closures, and I/O Operations

●  Objectives covered by the block (9 exam items)

PCAP-31-03 5.1 – Build complex lists using list comprehension

●  list comprehensions: the if operator, nested comprehensions

PCAP-31-03 5.2 – Embed lambda functions into the code

●  lambdas: defining and using lambdas

●  self-defined functions taking lambdas as arguments

●  functions: map(), filter()

PCAP-31-03 5.3 – Define and use closures

●  closures: meaning and rationale

●  defining and using closures

PCAP-31-03 5.4 – Understand basic Input/Output terminology

●  I/O modes

●  predefined streams

●  handles vs. streams

●  text vs. binary modes

PCAP-31-03 5.5 – Perform Input/Output operations

●  the open() function

●  the errno variable and its values

●  functions: close(), .read(), .write(), .readline(), readlines()

●  using bytearray as input/output buffer

​Chapter 3: PCAP™ Mock Tests 1

Question 1:

Consider the following code snippet:

Which of the variables will contain False?

w

x

z

y

Answer: B.

Explanation

Topic:

Try it yourself:

The list with the value False is not empty and therefore it becomes True

The string with the space also contain one character and therefore it also becomes True

The values that become False in Python are the following:

Question 2:

What is the expected output of the following code?

4

2

6

The code is erroneous.

8

Answer: A.

Explanation

Topics:

This function looks for the highest element in a two dimensional list (or another iterable).

In the beginning the first number data[0][0] gets taken as a possible result. In the inner for loop every number is compared to the possible result. If one number is higher it becomes the new possible result.

And in the end the result is the highest number.

Question 3:

isalnum() checks if a string contains only letters and digits, and this is:

A method

A module

A function

A dataset

Answer: A.

Explanation

Topic:

isalnum() is a String-Method.

https://www.w3schools.com/python/ref_string_isalnum.asp

'Hello world' is not alphanumeric, because of the space character.

Question 4:

What is the expected output of the following code?

2

4

5

3

Answer: B.

Explanation

Topics:

list.insert(i, x)

insert() inserts an item at a given position. The first argument is the index of the element before which to insert.

insert(0, 1) inserts 1 before index 0 (at the front of the list). The del keyword deletes the given object. In this case x[1]

The sum() function adds the items of a list (or a different iterable) and returns the sum.

Question 5:

What will be the output of the following code snippet?

3

None

1

4

2

Answer: D.

Explanation

Topics:

The operator precedence of the addition operator is higher than the operator precedence of the multiply and assign operator

That means the addition takes place before the multiplication.

Question 6:

What is the expected output of the following code?

[ ‘Peter’, ‘Wellert’ ]

[ ‘Peter’, 404, 3.03, ‘Wellert’, 33.3 ]

None of the above

[ 404, 3.03 ]

Answer: D.

Explanation

Topic:

You have a list of five elements of various data types. [1:3] slices inclusive the first index and exclusive the third index. Meaning it slices the first and second index.

Question 7:

What is the expected output of the following code?

Answer: C.

Explanation

Topics:

The incrementation of num needs to be inside of the while loop. Otherwise the condition num > 0 will never be False

It should look like this:

Question 8:

What is the expected output of the following code?

class

A number

name

A string ending with a long hexadecimal number.

Answer: D.

Explanation

Topics:

When there is no __str__() method present and you print an object, Python shows the object id in that way.

Question 9:

What is the expected output of the following code?

1  |  True True

1  |  True False

1  |  False True

1  |  False False

Answer: C.

Explanation

Topics:

busn_a is an instance of Business and therefore also an instance of the superclass Economy

econ_a is an instance of Economy

and therefore not an instance of the subclass Business

busn_a is referenced to busn_b

and they will point to the same object in the memory.

econ_a and econ_b are different objects.

Question 10:

What is the expected output of the following code if the user enters 2 and 4?

4

2

6

24

Answer: D.

Explanation

Topics:

As always the input() function returns a string. Therefore string concatenation takes place and the result is the string 24

(There are similar questions Q509 and Q648.)

Question 11:

The digraph written as #! is used to:

make a particular module entity a private one.

tell a Unix or Unix-like OS how to execute the contents of a Python file.

tell an MS Windows OS how to execute the contents of a Python file.

create a docstring.

Answer: B.

Explanation

Topic:

This is a general UNIX topic. Best read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebang_(Unix)

Question 12:

Which of the following statements are true? (Select two answers)

The first argument of the open() function is an integer value.

The input ()  function reads data from the stdin stream.

There are three pre-opened file streams.

The readlines () function returns a string.

Answer: B, C.

Explanation

Topics:

stdin, stdout, stderr are names of pre-opened streams. stdin is associated with the keyboard.

stdout and stderr are associated with the console.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_streams

readlines() with an s at the end returns a list of strings. The first argument of the open() function must be a string value with the name of the file.

Question 13:

The function body is missing. What snippet would you insert in the line indicated below:

return  ‘number’

print(number)

return number

print (‘number’)

Answer: C.

Explanation

Topics:

The parameter name is number therefore it can not be in quotes. If you only print something in the function, the function will return None and that is not wanted here, because the return values gets already printed outside of the function.

Question 14:

What is the expected output of the following code?

3

1

4

2

Answer: A.

Explanation

Topics:

There are three operators at work here. Of them the not operator has the highest precedence, followed by the and operator. The or operator has the lowest precedence.

Question 15:

An operator able to check whether two values are not equal is coded as:

<>

not ==

=/=

! =

Answer: D.

Explanation

Topic:

Other languages have <> or =/= as not equal to operators

In Python the not equal to operator is !=

not == does not work like this, because you can not have two operators next to each other.

It would work like that:

print(not(1 == 2)) # True

Question 16:

What will be the output of the following code snippet?

2

3

4

1

Answer: C.

Explanation

Topics:

The knowledge you need here is that a dictionary can have indexes of different data types.

Therefore d[1] is a different index than d['1'] and they can both exist in the same dictionary.

To iterate through a dictionary is the same as iterating through dict.keys()

In k will be the keys of the dictionary. In this case 1 and '1'

The value of the first key will be 2 and the value of the other key will also be 2 and therefore (the) sum is 4

Question 17:

What is the expected output of the following code?

The code is erroneous.

23

100

None of the above.

Answer: B.

Explanation

Topics:

The object variable id does not get changed by the initialisation of the local variable id in the __init__() method. They are two different entities.

Question 18:

What is the expected output of the following code?

1  |  True True

1  |  False True

1  |  False False

1  |  True False

Answer: D.

Explanation

Topics:

The object creature is a Tiger and therefore a Cat and does have the