PrepIQ CSA Certified Software Development Associate Ultimate Exam, Exams of Technology

This entry-level software development exam covers programming fundamentals, algorithms, data structures, debugging strategies, software lifecycle basics, basic security, and documentation practices. Candidates work through logic exercises, code analysis tasks, and applied questions to validate core competence as an emerging software developer.

Typology: Exams

2025/2026

Available from 06/29/2026

shilpi-jain-2
shilpi-jain-2 🇮🇳

1

(1)

25K documents

1 / 79

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
PrepIQ CSA Certified Software Development
Associate Ultimate Exam
**Question 1. Which phase of the SDLC is primarily concerned with defining system
boundaries and gathering stakeholder needs?**
A) Implementation
B) Analysis
C) Deployment
D) Maintenance
Answer: B
Explanation: The analysis (or requirements) phase focuses on eliciting,
documenting, and validating functional and non-functional requirements from
stakeholders.
**Question 2. In the Waterfall model, which activity directly follows the design
phase?**
A) Planning
B) Testing
C) Implementation
D) Maintenance
Answer: C
Explanation: Waterfall proceeds linearly: after design, the implementation (coding)
phase translates designs into source code.
**Question 3. Which Agile principle emphasizes delivering working software
frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months?**
A) Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
B) Responding to change over following a plan
C) Working software is the primary measure of progress
D) Sustainable development
Answer: C
Explanation: Agile values frequent delivery of functional software to provide early
feedback and value.
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd
pfe
pff
pf12
pf13
pf14
pf15
pf16
pf17
pf18
pf19
pf1a
pf1b
pf1c
pf1d
pf1e
pf1f
pf20
pf21
pf22
pf23
pf24
pf25
pf26
pf27
pf28
pf29
pf2a
pf2b
pf2c
pf2d
pf2e
pf2f
pf30
pf31
pf32
pf33
pf34
pf35
pf36
pf37
pf38
pf39
pf3a
pf3b
pf3c
pf3d
pf3e
pf3f
pf40
pf41
pf42
pf43
pf44
pf45
pf46
pf47
pf48
pf49
pf4a
pf4b
pf4c
pf4d
pf4e
pf4f

Partial preview of the text

Download PrepIQ CSA Certified Software Development Associate Ultimate Exam and more Exams Technology in PDF only on Docsity!

Associate Ultimate Exam

Question 1. Which phase of the SDLC is primarily concerned with defining system boundaries and gathering stakeholder needs? A) Implementation B) Analysis C) Deployment D) Maintenance Answer: B Explanation: The analysis (or requirements) phase focuses on eliciting, documenting, and validating functional and non-functional requirements from stakeholders. Question 2. In the Waterfall model, which activity directly follows the design phase? A) Planning B) Testing C) Implementation D) Maintenance Answer: C Explanation: Waterfall proceeds linearly: after design, the implementation (coding) phase translates designs into source code. Question 3. Which Agile principle emphasizes delivering working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months? A) Customer collaboration over contract negotiation B) Responding to change over following a plan C) Working software is the primary measure of progress D) Sustainable development Answer: C Explanation: Agile values frequent delivery of functional software to provide early feedback and value.

Associate Ultimate Exam

Question 4. In Scrum, what is the time-boxed meeting called where the team plans the work for the next sprint? A) Daily Stand-up B) Sprint Review C) Sprint Retrospective D) Sprint Planning Answer: D Explanation: Sprint Planning defines the sprint goal and selects backlog items for the upcoming sprint. Question 5. Which of the following is a non-functional requirement? A) The system shall allow users to reset passwords. B) The system shall generate a PDF report. C) The system shall respond to user queries within 2 seconds. D) The system shall store customer data in a relational database. Answer: C Explanation: Non-functional requirements describe quality attributes such as performance, security, or usability. Question 6. What binary value does the hexadecimal digit ‘B’ represent? A) 1010 B) 1011 C) 1100 D) 1101 Answer: B Explanation: Hex ‘B’ equals decimal 11, which is binary 1011. Question 7. Which Big-O notation describes an algorithm that always runs in constant time regardless of input size? A) O(n)

Associate Ultimate Exam

Answer: A Explanation: git branch creates a new branch without switching to it. Question 11. After modifying files, which sequence of Git commands correctly records the changes and sends them to the remote repository? A) git add. → git commit –m “msg” → git push B) git push → git add. → git commit –m “msg” C) git commit –m “msg” → git add. → git push D) git pull → git add. → git commit –m “msg” Answer: A Explanation: Changes are staged (git add), committed locally (git commit), then uploaded (git push). Question 12. In Git, what does the term “fast-forward merge” mean? A) Merging without creating a new commit because the target is an ancestor of the source. B) Merging that automatically resolves all conflicts. C) A merge that rewrites history using rebase. D) A merge that only updates the remote repository. Answer: A Explanation: A fast-forward occurs when the receiving branch’s HEAD is behind the source, so it can simply move forward. Question 13. Which primitive data type typically occupies 4 bytes in most modern languages? A) short B) int C) long D) byte Answer: B Explanation: The int type is commonly 32 bits (4 bytes) on mainstream platforms.

Associate Ultimate Exam

Question 14. In many languages, which operator is used to test equality? A) = B) == C) := D) === Answer: B Explanation: == compares two values for equality; = is assignment in most languages. Question 15. What is the scope of a variable declared inside a function in most programming languages? A) Global B) Local to the function C) Block-level only D) Accessible by all threads Answer: B Explanation: Variables defined within a function are typically local to that function and cease to exist after the function returns. Question 16. Which loop will always execute its body at least once? A) for loop B) while loop C) do-while loop D) foreach loop Answer: C Explanation: A do-while loop checks its condition after executing the body, guaranteeing one execution. Question 17. In many languages, the break statement is used to:

Associate Ultimate Exam

Answer: C Explanation: The finally block runs after try/catch whether or not an exception was thrown. Question 21. Which of the following is an example of encapsulation? A) Declaring a class variable as public. B) Providing getter and setter methods for a private field. C) Inheriting methods from a base class. D) Overloading a method name. Answer: B Explanation: Encapsulation hides internal state (private fields) and exposes controlled access via methods. Question 22. In OOP, what does the “is-a” relationship represent? A) Composition B) Aggregation C) Inheritance D) Dependency Answer: C Explanation: “Is-a” denotes inheritance, where a subclass can be treated as an instance of its superclass. Question 23. Which keyword is commonly used to prevent a method from being overridden in Java? A) static B) final C) abstract D) protected Answer: B Explanation: final methods cannot be overridden by subclasses.

Associate Ultimate Exam

Question 24. Method overloading is an example of which type of polymorphism? A) Runtime polymorphism B) Compile-time (static) polymorphism C) Subtype polymorphism D) Parametric polymorphism Answer: B Explanation: Overloading resolves at compile time based on method signatures. Question 25. Which of the following best defines an abstract class? A) A class that cannot be instantiated and may contain abstract methods. B) A class that can be instantiated but cannot be subclassed. C) An interface that provides default implementations. D) A class that only contains static methods. Answer: A Explanation: Abstract classes serve as templates; they cannot be directly instantiated and can include abstract (unimplemented) methods. Question 26. In composition, which object typically controls the lifetime of its component objects? A) The component object B) The container (has-a) object C) The garbage collector D) The operating system Answer: B Explanation: In composition, the containing object creates and destroys its parts, implying a strong ownership relationship. Question 27. What is the purpose of a constructor in a class? A) To destroy objects when they go out of scope.

Associate Ultimate Exam

C) Logic error D) Compilation error Answer: C Explanation: Logic errors arise when the code runs but produces incorrect results due to faulty reasoning. Question 31. In most IDEs, what does a breakpoint allow you to do? A) Automatically fix syntax errors. B) Pause program execution at a specific line. C) Run unit tests automatically. D) Deploy the application to production. Answer: B Explanation: Breakpoints suspend execution so developers can inspect state at that point. Question 32. Which logging level is typically used for detailed diagnostic information that is usually turned off in production? A) ERROR B) WARN C) INFO D) DEBUG Answer: D Explanation: DEBUG logs provide fine-grained details helpful during development or troubleshooting. Question 33. What is a primary benefit of conducting peer code reviews? A) Reducing the need for unit tests. B) Ensuring code follows team standards and catching defects early. C) Automatically generating documentation. D) Speeding up compilation. Answer: B

Associate Ultimate Exam

Explanation: Peer reviews improve code quality by sharing knowledge and identifying issues before they become bugs. Question 34. Which of the following is considered a “code smell”? A) A function that returns the correct result. B) A class with more than 500 lines of code. C) A variable declared as final. D) A unit test that passes. Answer: B Explanation: Large classes often violate the Single Responsibility Principle and indicate potential maintainability problems. Question 35. In Javadoc, which tag is used to describe a method’s parameters? A) @return B) @param C) @throws D) @see Answer: B Explanation: @param documents each parameter’s purpose and type. Question 36. In a relational database, what does a primary key ensure? A) That the column can contain NULL values. B) Uniqueness of each row within the table. C) Automatic indexing of foreign keys. D) Encryption of stored data. Answer: B Explanation: A primary key uniquely identifies each record and cannot be NULL. Question 37. Which SQL clause is used to filter rows returned by a SELECT statement?

Associate Ultimate Exam

C) Server (backend) D. DNS server Answer: C Explanation: The server processes requests, applies business rules, and returns responses. Question 41. Which HTTP method is idempotent and commonly used to update an existing resource? A) GET B) POST C) PUT D) PATCH Answer: C Explanation: PUT replaces the target resource and can be safely repeated without additional side effects. Question 42. What does HTTPS add to HTTP to improve security? A) Compression B) Caching C) SSL/TLS encryption D) Load balancing Answer: C Explanation: HTTPS wraps HTTP traffic in SSL/TLS, providing confidentiality and integrity. Question 43. Which HTML tag defines a paragraph? A) B) C) <p> D) </p> Answer: C

Associate Ultimate Exam

Explanation: <p> is the semantic element for a paragraph of text. Question 44. In CSS, which selector targets all </p> elements that are direct children of ``? A) header h B) header > h C) header + h D) header ~ h Answer: B Explanation: The &gt; combinator selects direct child elements. Question 45. What format is most commonly used for transmitting structured data in modern REST APIs? A) XML B) CSV C) JSON D) YAML Answer: C Explanation: JSON is lightweight, easy to parse, and widely adopted for RESTful communication. Question 46. Which Git workflow encourages feature development in isolated branches and merges to a protected main branch via pull requests? A) Git Flow B) Forking workflow C) Feature-branch workflow D) Trunk-based development Answer: C Explanation: The feature-branch model isolates work and uses pull/merge requests for integration.

Associate Ultimate Exam

A) Uniqueness within the same table. B) A relationship between two tables. C) Automatic indexing of the column. D) Encryption of the referenced column. Answer: B Explanation: A foreign key references a primary key in another table, defining a relational link. Question 51. Which of the following statements about the const keyword in C++ is true? A) It makes a variable mutable. B) It forces the compiler to allocate the variable on the heap. C) It prevents modification after initialization. D) It enables automatic garbage collection. Answer: C Explanation: const declares a variable whose value cannot be changed after it is set. Question 52. In Python, which data structure maintains insertion order and allows duplicate keys? A) set B) dict (pre-Python 3.7) C) list D) collections.OrderedDict Answer: D Explanation: OrderedDict preserves insertion order and can hold duplicate values (keys must still be unique, but ordering is retained). Regular dict prior to 3.7 did not guarantee order. Question 53. Which of the following operators has the highest precedence in most C-style languages? A) = (assignment)

Associate Ultimate Exam

B) || (logical OR) C) * (multiplication) D) == (equality) Answer: C Explanation: Multiplication (*) is evaluated before addition, relational, and assignment operators. Question 54. In a for loop, which part is executed first? A) Increment/Decrement expression B) Loop condition check C) Initialization statement D) Loop body Answer: C Explanation: The initialization runs once before the loop condition is evaluated. Question 55. Which of the following is a correct way to catch multiple exception types in a single block in Java 7+? A) catch (IOException | SQLException ex) {} B) catch (IOException ex) {} catch (SQLException ex) {} C) catch (Exception ex) {} D) catch (IOException &amp; SQLException ex) {} Answer: A Explanation: Java 7 introduced multi-catch using the pipe (|) separator. Question 56. Which design pattern provides a way to create objects without specifying the exact class of object that will be created? A) Singleton B) Factory Method C) Observer D) Decorator

Associate Ultimate Exam

Question 60. Which HTTP response code indicates that the client must authenticate to gain network access? A) 401 Unauthorized B) 403 Forbidden C) 404 Not Found D) 500 Internal Server Error Answer: A Explanation: 401 signals that authentication is required and has failed or not been provided. **Question 61. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a well-designed API? ** A) Consistent naming conventions. B) Overly broad endpoint that handles many unrelated actions. C) Clear versioning strategy. D) Use of standard HTTP methods. Answer: B Explanation: Broad, multipurpose endpoints violate the principle of single responsibility and reduce clarity. Question 62. In JavaScript, which keyword creates a block-scoped variable? A) var B) let C) const D) Both B and C Answer: D Explanation: Both let and const are block-scoped; var is function-scoped. Question 63. Which of the following best describes a “memory leak”?

Associate Ultimate Exam

A) Accessing an array out of bounds. B) Allocating memory that is never deallocated, reducing available memory over time. C) Using a null pointer. D) Overwriting stack memory. Answer: B Explanation: A memory leak occurs when allocated memory is not released, causing gradual exhaustion. Question 64. In CSS, which property controls the space between lines of text? A) margin B) padding C) line-height D) letter-spacing Answer: C Explanation: line-height defines the vertical distance between baselines of successive lines. Question 65. Which of the following is a valid reason to use a queue data structure over a stack? A) You need LIFO behavior. B) You need to process items in the order they arrived. C) You need random access to any element. D) You need to sort elements automatically. Answer: B Explanation: Queues provide FIFO ordering, ideal for tasks like job scheduling. Question 66. In a relational database, what is a “candidate key”? A) Any attribute that can uniquely identify a row. B) The primary key selected from possible keys. C) A foreign key that references another table.