PCEP: Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer

Module 1: Computer Programming and Python Fundamentals (18%)

1.1 – Understand fundamental terms and definitions

• interpreting and the interpreter, compilation and the compiler
• lexis, syntax, and semantics

1.2 – Understand Python’s logic and structure

• keywords
• instructions
• indentation
• comments

1.3 – Introduce literals and variables into code and use different numeral systems

• Boolean, integers, floating-point numbers
• scientific notation
• strings
• binary, octal, decimal, and hexadecimal numeral systems
• variables
• naming conventions
• implementing PEP-8 recommendations

1.4 – Choose operators and data types adequate to the problem

• numeric operators: ** * / % // + –
• string operators: * +
• assignment and shortcut operators
• unary and binary operators
• priorities and binding
• bitwise operators: ~ & ^ | << >>
• Boolean operators: not, and, or
• Boolean expressions
• relational operators ( == != > >= < <= )
• the accuracy of floating-point numbers
• type casting

1.5 – Perform Input/Output console operations

• the print() and input() functions
• the sep= and end= keyword parameters
• the int() and float() functions

Module 2: Control Flow – Conditional Blocks and Loops (29%)

2.1 – Make decisions and branch the flow with the if instruction

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

2.2 – Perform different types of iterations

• the pass instruction
• building loops with while, for, range(), and in
• iterating through sequences
• expanding loops with while-else and for-else
• nesting loops and conditional statements
• controlling loop execution with break and continue

Module 3: Data Collections – Tuples, Dictionaries, Lists, and Strings (25%)

3.1 – Collect and process data using lists

• constructing vectors
• indexing and slicing
• the len() function
• list methods: append(), insert(), index(), etc.
• functions: len(), sorted()
• the del instruction
• iterating through lists with the for loop
• initializing loops
• the in and not in operators
• list comprehensions
• copying and cloning
• lists in lists: matrices and cubes

3.2 – Collect and process data using tuples

• tuples: indexing, slicing, building, immutability
• tuples vs. lists: similarities and differences
• lists inside tuples and tuples inside lists

3.3 Collect and process data using dictionaries

• dictionaries: building, indexing, adding and removing keys
• iterating through dictionaries and their keys and values
• checking the existence of keys
• methods: keys(), items(), and values()

3.4 Operate with strings

• constructing strings
• indexing, slicing, immutability
• escaping using the  character
• quotes and apostrophes inside strings
• multi-line strings
• basic string functions and methods

Module 4: Functions and Exceptions (28%)

4.1 – Decompose the code using functions

• defining and invoking user-defined functions and generators
• the return keyword, returning results
• the None keyword
• recursion

4.2 – Organize interaction between the function and its environment

• parameters vs. arguments
• positional, keyword, and mixed argument passing
• default parameter values
• name scopes, name hiding (shadowing), and the global keyword

4.3 – Python Built-In Exceptions Hierarchy

• BaseException
• Exception
• SystemExit
• KeyboardInterrupt
• abstract exceptions
• ArithmeticError
• LookupError
• IndexError
• KeyError
• TypeError
• ValueError

4.4 – Basics of Python Exception Handling

• try-except / the try-except Exception
• ordering the except branches
• propagating exceptions through function boundaries
• delegating responsibility for handling exceptions