Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer (PCEP)

Python is a multi-paradigm programming language. Object-oriented programming and structured programming are fully supported, and many of its features support functional programming and aspect-oriented programming (including by metaprogramming and metaobjects (magic methods)). PCEP – Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer Certification: Exam Syllabus

Exam block #1: Basic Concepts (17%)

Objectives covered by the block (5 exam items)

• fundamental concepts: interpreting and the interpreter, compilation and the compiler, language elements, lexis, syntax and semantics, Python keywords, instructions, indenting


• literals: Boolean, integer, floating-point numbers, scientific notation, strings


• comments


• the print() function


• the input() function


• numeral systems (binary, octal, decimal, hexadecimal)


• numeric operators: ** * / % // + –


• string operators: * +


• assignments and shortcut operators

Exam block #2: Data Types, Evaluations, and Basic I/O Operations (20%)

Objectives covered by the block (6 exam items)

• operators: unary and binary, priorities and binding


• bitwise operators: ~ & ^ | << >>


• Boolean operators: not and or


• Boolean expressions


• relational operators (== != > >= < <=), building complex Boolean expressions


• accuracy of floating-point numbers


• basic input and output operations using the input(), print(), int(), float(), str(), len() functions


• formatting print() output with end= and sep= arguments


• type casting


• basic calculations


• simple strings: constructing, assigning, indexing, immutability

Exam block #3: Control Flow – loops and conditional blocks (20%)

Objectives covered by the block (6 exam items)

• conditional statements: if, if-else, if-elif, if-elif-else


• multiple conditional statements


• the pass instruction


• building loops: while, for, range(), in


• iterating through sequences


• expanding loops: while-else, for-else


• nesting loops and conditional statements


• controlling loop execution: break, continue

Exam block #4: Data Collections – Lists, Tuples, and Dictionaries (23%)

Objectives covered by the block (7 exam items)

• simple lists: constructing, indexing, slicing


• basic list methods: append(), insert(), index(), remove(), pop(), reverse(), sort()


• lists in lists: matrices and cubes


• tuples: indexing, slicing, immutability


• basic tuple functions: len(), index(), count()


• tuples vs. lists: similarities and differences


• dictionaries: building, indexing, adding and removing keys, iterating through dictionaries and their keys and values


• basic dictionary methods: keys(), values(), items(), get()

Exam block #5: Functions (20%)

Objectives covered by the block (6 exam items)

• defining functions


• invoking functions


• returning results


• function arguments: positional, keyword, default


• the None value


• returning multiple results