GE3151 PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING

QUESTION BANK

UNIT I
ALGORITHMIC PROBLEM SOLVING
PART- A (2 Marks)
1. What is an algorithm? (Nov/Dec 2017)
Algorithm is an ordered sequence of finite, well defined, unambiguous instructions
for completing a task. It is an English-like representation of the logic which is used to solve
the problem. It is a step- by-step procedure for solving a task or a problem. The steps must
be ordered, unambiguous and finite in number.
2. Write an algorithm to find minimum of 3 numbers in a list.
(Apr/May 2017)
ALGORITHM : Find Minimum of 3 numbers in a list
Step 1: Start
Step 2: Read the three numbers A, B, C
Step 3: Compare A and B.
If A is minimum, go to step 4 else go to step
5. Step 4: Compare A and C.
If A is minimum, output “A is minimum” else output “C is minimum”. Go to step 6.
Step 5: Compare B and C.
If B is minimum, output “B is minimum” else output “C is minimum”.
Step 6: Stop
3. List the building blocks of an algorithm.(Nov/Dec 2021)

 Statements
 Sequence
 Selection or Conditional
 Repetition or Control flow
 Functions
4. Define statement. List its types.
Statements are instructions in Python designed as components for algorithmic problem
solving, rather than as one-to-one translations of the underlying machine language instruction
set of the computer.
There are three types of high-level programming language statements Input/output
statements make up one type of statement. An input statement collects a specific value from
the user for a variable within the program. An output statement writes a message or the value
of a program variable to the user’s screen.
5. Write the pseudo code to calculate the sum and product of two numbers and display
it. INITIALIZE variables sum, product, number1, number2 of type real
PRINT “Input two numbers”
READ number1, number2
sum = number1 + number2
PRINT “The sum is “, sum
COMPUTE product = number1 * number2
PRINT “The Product is “, product
END program
 6. How does flow of control work? (Nov/Dec 2017)
Control flow (or flow of control) is the order in which individual statements, instructions or
function calls of an imperative program are executed or evaluated. A control flow statement is
a statement in which execution results in a choice being made as to which of two or more
paths to follow.
7. What is a function?
Functions are "self-contained" modules of code that accomplish a specific task. Functions
usually "take in" data, process it, and "return" a result. Once a function is written, it can be used
over and over and over again. Functions can be "called" from the inside of other functions.
8. Write the pseudo code to calculate the sum and product displaying the answer on the
monitor screen. (Apr/May 2017)
INITIALIZE variables sum, product, number1, number2 of type real
PRINT “Input two numbers”
READ number1, number2
sum = number1 + number2
PRINT “The sum is “, sum
COMPUTE product = number1 * number2
PRINT “The Product is “, product
END program
9. Give the rules for writing Pseudo codes.
 Write one statement per line.
 Capitalize initial keywords.
 Indent to show hierarchy.
 End multiline structure.
 Keep statements to be language independent.
10. Give the difference between flowchart and pseudo code. (Nov/Dec 2017)
Flowchart and Pseudo code are used to document and represent the algorithm. In other words,
an algorithm can be represented using a flowchart or a pseudo code. Flowchart is a graphical
representation of the algorithm. Pseudo code is a readable, formally styled English like language
representation of the algorithm.
11. Define a flowchart. (Nov/Dec 2021)
A flowchart is a diagrammatic representation of the logic for solving a task. A flowchart is
drawn using boxes of different shapes with lines connecting them to show the flow of control. The
purpose of drawing a flowchart is to make the logic of the program clearer in a visual form.
12. Give an example of
iteration. a = 0
for i from 1 to 3 // loop three times
{
a=a+i // add the current value of i to a
}
print a // the number 6 is printed (0 + 1; 1 + 2; 3 + 3)
 13. Write down the rules for preparing a flowchart. (Nov/Dec 2017)
While drawing a flowchart, some rules need to be followed—
(1) A flowchart should have a start and end,
(2) The direction of flow in a flowchart must be from top to bottom and left to right, and
(3) The relevant symbols must be used while drawing a flowchart.
14. List the categories of Programming languages.
Programming languages are divided into the following categories:
Interpreted, Functional, Compiled, Procedural, Scripting, Markup, Logic-Based,
Concurrent and Object-Oriented Programming Languages
15. Mention the characteristics of an algorithm. (Nov/Dec 2017)
 Algorithm should be precise and unambiguous.
 Instruction in an algorithm should not be repeated infinitely.
 Ensure that the algorithm will ultimately terminate.
 Algorithm should be written in sequence.
 Algorithm should be written in normal English.
 Desired result should be obtained only after the algorithm terminates.
16. Compare machine language, assembly language and high-level language.
Machine language is a collection of binary digits or bits that the computer reads
and interprets. This language is not easily understandable by the human.
An assembly language directly controls the physical hardware. A program written in
assembly language consists of a series of instructions mnemonics that correspond to a stream of
executable instructions, when translated by an assembler can be loaded into memory and
executed. The programs written in this language are not portable and the debugging process is
also not very easy.
A high level language is much more abstract, that must be translated or compiled in to
machine language. It is easily understandable and the programs are portable. Debugging the code is
easy and the program written is not machine dependent.
17. What is the difference between algorithm and pseudo code?
An algorithm is a systematic logical approach used to solve problems in a computer
while pseudo code is the statement in plain English that may be translated later to a
programming language. Pseudo code is the intermediary between algorithm and program.
18. List out the simple steps to develop an algorithm.
(Apr/May 2017)
Algorithm development process consists of five steps,
Step 1: Obtain a description of the problem.
Step 2: Analyze the problem.
Step 3: Develop a high-level algorithm.
Step 4: Refine the algorithm by adding more detail.
Step 5: Review the algorithm.
19. Give the differences between recursion and iteration. (Nov/Dec 2017)
Recursion Iteration
Function calls itself until the base condition is Repetition of process until the condition fails.
reached.
Only base condition (terminating condition) is It involves four steps: initialization, condition,
specified. execution and updation.
It keeps our code short and simple. Iterative approach makes our code longer.
It is slower than iteration due to overhead of Iteration is faster.
maintaining stack.
It takes more memory than iteration due to Iteration takes less memory.
overhead of maintaining stack.
20. What are advantages and disadvantages of recursion?
Advantages Disadvantages
Recursive functions make the code look clean Sometimes the logic behind recursion is hard to
and elegant. follow through.

A complex task can be broken down into Recursive calls are expensive (inefficient) as
simpler sub-problems using recursion. they take up a lot of memory and time.

Sequence generation is easier with recursion Recursive functions are hard to debug.
than using some nested iteration.

21. Enlist the advantage of algorithm.

1.It is a sample to understand step by step solution of problem.
2.It is easy to debug.
3.An algorithm is independent of programming languages.
22. Define Iteration. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The iteration is a technique that repeats a set of statements based upon a condition. If a condition
evaluates to true, the set of statement (true block) is executed again. As soon as the condition
becomes false, the repetition stops. This is also known as looping statement or iteration statement.
23. What is coding.
Translating an algorithm into a programming language is called coding the algorithm.
24.Define recursion. (Apr/May 2017)
A function or procedure is called itself again and again until a given condition is satisfied, is called
recursion.
25. What are the benefits of pseudocode. (Nov/Dec 2017)
1.A pseudocode is closer to the programming code. Thus it can be easily converted into the actual
program.
2.Writing pseudocode is much easier in comparision with drawing a flowchart.
 UNIT II
DATA, EXPRESSIONS, STATEMENTS
PART- A (2 Marks)
1. What is meant by interpreter? (Nov/Dec 2017)
An interpreter is a computer program that executes instructions written in a programming
language. It can either execute the source code directly or translate the source code in a first step
into a more efficient representation and executes this code.
2. How will you invoke the python interpreter?
The Python interpreter can be invoked by typing the command "python" without any
parameter followed by the "return" key at the shell prompt.
3. What is meant by interactive mode of the interpreter? (Apr/May 2017)
Interactive mode is a command line shell which gives immediate feedback for each
statement, while running previously fed statements in active memory. As new lines are fed into the
interpreter, the fed program is evaluated both in part and in whole.
4.Write a snippet to display “Hello World” in python interpreter. (Nov/Dec 2021)
In script mode:
>>> print "Hello World"
> "Hello
World" 'Hello
World'
5. What is a value? What are the different types of values?
A value is one of the fundamental things – like a letter or a number – that a program manipulates.
Its types are: integer, float, boolean, strings and lists.
6. Define a variable and write down the rules for naming a variable. (Nov/Dec 2017)
A name that refers to a value is a variable. Variable names can be arbitrarily long. They can
contain both letters and numbers, but they have to begin with a letter. It is legal to use uppercase
letters, but it is good to begin variable names with a lowercase letter.
7. Define keyword and enumerate some of the keywords in Python.
A keyword is a reserved word that is used by the compiler to parse a program. Keywords
cannot be used as variable names. Some of the keywords used in python are: and, del, from, not,
while, is, continue.
8. Define statement and what are its types?
A statement is an instruction that the Python interpreter can execute. There are two types of
statements: print and assignment statement.
9. What do you meant by an assignment statement? (Nov/Dec 2017)
An assignment statement creates new variables and gives them values:
Eg 1: Message = 'And now for something completely different'
Eg 2: n = 17
10. What is tuple?(Nov/Dec 2021)
A tuple is a sequence of immutable Python objects. Tuples are sequences, like lists. The
differences between tuples and lists are, the tuples cannot be changed unlike lists and tuples use
parentheses, whereas lists use square brackets. Creating a tuple is as simple as putting different
comma-separated values. Comma-separated values between parentheses can also be used.
Example: tup1 = ('physics', 'chemistry', 1997,
2000);
11.What is an expression? (Apr/May2017)
An expression is a combination of values, variables, and operators. An expression is
evaluated
using assignment operator.
Examples: Y=x + 17
12. What do you mean by an operand and an operator? Illustrate your answer with relevant
example. (Nov/Dec 2017)
An operator is a symbol that specifies an operation to be performed on the operands. The
data items that an operator acts upon are called operands. The operators +, -, *, / and ** perform
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and exponentiation. Example: 20+32
In this example, 20 and 32 are operands and + is an operator.
13. What is the order in which operations are evaluated? Give the order of precedence.
The set of rules that govern the order in which expressions involving multiple operators and
operands are evaluated is known as rule of precedence. Parentheses have the highest precedence
followed by exponentiation. Multiplication and division have the next highest precedence followed
by addition and subtraction.
14. Illustrate the use of * and + operators in string with example. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The * operator performs repetition on strings and the + operator performs concatenation on
strings.
Example:
>>> ‘Hello*3’
Output: HelloHelloHello
>>>’Hello+World’
Output:
15. What HelloWorld
is the symbol for comment? Give an example. (Nov/Dec 2021)
# is the symbol for comments in
Python. Example:
# compute the percentage of the hour that has elapsed
16. What is function call? (Apr/May 2017)
A function is a named sequence of statements that performs a computation. When we define
a function, we specify the name and the sequence of statements. Later, we can “call” the function
by its name called as function call.
17.Identify the parts of a function in the given example. (Nov/Dec 2017)
> betty = type("32")
> print betty
The name of the function is type, and it displays the type of a value or variable. The value or
variable, which is called the argument of the function, is enclosed in parentheses. The argument is
32. The function returns the result called return value. The return value is stored in betty.
18. What is a local variable?
A variable defined inside a function. A local variable can only be used inside its function.
19.What is the output of the following? (Nov/Dec 2021)
a. float(32)
b. float("3.14159")
Output:
a. 32.0 The float function converts integers to floating-point numbers.
b. 3.14159 The float function converts strings to floating-point numbers.

20. What do you mean by flow of execution?

In order to ensure that a function is defined before its first use, we have to know the order
in which statements are executed, which is called the flow of execution. Execution always begins at
the first statement of the program. Statements are executed one at a time, in order from top to
bottom.
21.Write down the output for the following program.
first = 'throat'
second =
'warbler' print
first + second
 Output:
throatwarbler
22. Give the syntax of function definition.
def NAME( LIST OF PARAMETERS ):
STATEMENTS
23. Explain the concept of floor division. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The operation that divides two numbers and chops off the fraction part is known as floor
division.
24. What is type coercion? Give example. (Apr/May 2017)
Automatic method to convert between data types is called type coercion. For mathematical
operators, if any one operand is a float, the other is automatically converted to float.
Eg:
> minute = 59
> minute / 60.0
0.983333333333
25.Write a math function to perform √2 / 2. (Nov/Dec 2017)
> math.sqrt(2) / 2.0
0.707106781187
 UNIT III
CONTROL FLOW, FUNCTIONS
PART- A (2 Marks)

1. Define Boolean expression with example.(Nov/Dec 2021)

A boolean expression is an expression that is either true or false. The values true and false are
called Boolean values.
Eg :
> 5
== 6
False
True and False are special values that belongs to the type bool; they are not strings:
2. What are the different types of operators? (Nov/Dec 2017)
 Arithmetic Operator (+, -, *, /, %, **, // )
 Relational operator ( == , !=, <>, < , > , <=, >=)
 Assignment Operator ( =, += , *= , - =, /=, %= ,**= )
 Logical Operator (AND, OR, NOT)
 Membership Operator (in, not in)
 Bitwise Operator (& (and), | (or) , ^ (binary Xor), ~(binary 1’s complement , << (binary left
shift), >> (binary right shift))
 Identity(is, is not)
3. Explain modulus operator with example.
The modulus operator works on integers and yields the remainder when the first operand is
divided by the second. In Python, the modulus operator is a percent sign (%). The syntax is the
same as for other operators:
Eg:
> remainder = 7 % 3
> print remainder
1
So 7 divided by 3 is 2 with 1 left over.
4. Explain relational operators. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The == operator is one of the relational operators; the others are:
X! = y # x is not equal to y
x > y # x is greater than y
x < y # x is less than y
x >= y # x is greater than or equal to y
x <= y # x is less than or equal to y
5. Explain Logical operators (Apr/May 2017)
There are three logical operators: and, or, and not. For example, x > 0 and x < 10 is true
only if x is greater than 0 and less than 10. n%2 == 0 or n%3 == 0 is true if either of the conditions
is true, that is, if the number is divisible by 2 or 3. Finally, the not operator negates a Boolean
expression, so not(x > y) is true if x > y is false, that is, if x is less than or equal to y. Non-zero
number is said to be true in Boolean expressions.
6. What is conditional execution?
 The ability to check the condition and change the behavior of the program accordingly is called
conditional execution. Example:
If statement:
The simplest form of if statement is:
Syntax:
if
statement:
Eg:
if x > 0:
print 'x is positive'
The boolean expression after ‘if’ is called the condition. If it is true, then the indented
statement gets executed. If not, nothing happens.
7. What is alternative execution? (Nov/Dec 2017)
A second form of if statement is alternative execution, that is, if …else, where there are two
possibilities and the condition determines which one to execute.
Eg:
if x%2 == 0:
print 'x is even'
else:
print 'x is odd'

8. What are chained conditionals?

Sometimes there are more than two possibilities and we need more than two branches. One
way to express a computation like that is a chained conditional:
Eg:
if x < y:
print 'x is less than y'
elif x > y:
print 'x is greater than y'
else:
print 'x and y are equal'

elif is an abbreviation of “else if.” Again, exactly one branch will be executed. There is no limit on
the number of elif statements. If there is an else clause, it has to be at the end, but there doesn’t
have to be one.
9. Explain ‘for loop’ with example. (Nov/Dec 2017)

The general form of a for statement is

Syntax:
for variable in sequence:
code block
Eg:
x=4
for i in range(0, x):
print i
10. What is a break statement? (Apr/May 2017)
When a break statement is encountered inside a loop, the loop is immediately terminated
and the program control resumes at the next statement following the loop.
Eg:
while True:
line = raw_input('>')
 if line == 'done':
break
print line
print'Done!'
11. What is a continue statement?
The continue statement works somewhat like a break statement. Instead of forcing
termination, it forces the next iteration of the loop to take place, skipping any code in between.
Eg:
for num in range(2,10):
if num%2==0;
print “Found an even number”, num
continue
print “Found a number”, num
12. Compare return value and
composition. (Apr/May 2017)
Return Value:
Return gives back or replies to the caller of the function. The return statement causes our
function to exit and hand over back a value to its caller.
Eg:
def area(radius):
temp = math.pi *
radius**2 return temp
Composition:
Calling one function from another is called composition.
Eg:
def circle_area(xc, yc, xp, yp):
radius = distance(xc, yc, xp,
yp) result = area(radius)
return result
13.What is recursion? (Nov/Dec 2017)

The process in which a function calls itself directly or indirectly is called recursion and the
corresponding function is called as recursive function.
Eg:
def factorial(n):
if n == 1:
return 1
else:
return n * factorial(n-1)
14. Explain global and local scope.
The scope of a variable refers to the places that we can see or access a variable. If we define
a variable on the top of the script or module, the variable is called global variable. The variables
that are defined inside a class or function is called local variable.
Eg:
def my_local():
a=10
print(“This is local variable”)
Eg:
a=10
def my_global():
 print(“This is global variable”)
15.Compare string and string slices. (Nov/Dec 2017)
A string is a sequence of character.
Eg: fruit = ‘banana’
String Slices :
A segment of a string is called string slice, selecting a slice is similar to selecting a
character. Eg: >>> s ='Monty Python'
> print
s[0:5] Monty
> print
s[6:12] Python
16. Define string immutability. (Apr/May 2017)
Python strings are immutable. ‘a’ is not a string. It is a variable with string value. We can’t
mutate the string but can change what value of the variable to a new string.
Program: Output:
a = “foo” #foofoo
# a now points to foo #foo
b=a It is observed that ‘b’ hasn’t changed even
# b now points to the same foo that a points to though ‘a’ has changed.
a=a+a
# a points to the new string “foofoo”, but b
points to the same old “foo”
prin
t a
prin
tb
17.Mention a few string functions. (Nov/Dec 2017)
s.captilize() – Capitalizes first character of string
s.count(sub) – Count number of occurrences of sub in
string
s.lower() – converts a string to lower case
s.split() – returns a list of words in string
18. What are string methods?
A method is similar to a function—it takes arguments and returns a value—but the
syntax is different. For example, the method upper takes a string and returns a new string with all
uppercase letters:
Instead of the function syntax upper(word), it uses the method syntax
word.upper() .>>> word = 'banana'
> new_word = word.upper()
> print new_word
BANANA
19. Explain about string module. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The string module contains number of useful constants and classes, as well as some
deprecated legacy functions that are also available as methods on strings.
 Eg:
Program: Output:
import string upper => MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING
text = "Monty Python's Flying Circus" CIRCUS
print "upper", "=>", string.upper(text) lower => monty python's flying circus
print "lower", "=>", string.lower(text) split => ['Monty', "Python's", 'Flying', 'Circus']
print "split", "=>", string.split(text) join => Monty+Python's+Flying+Circus
print "join", "=>", string.join(string.split(text), replace => Monty Java's Flying Circus
"+") find => 6 -1
print "replace", "=>",string.replace(text, count => 3
"Python", "Java")
print "find", "=>", string.find(text, "Python"),
string.find(text, "Java")
print "count", "=>", string.count(text, "n")

20. What is the purpose of pass statement? (Apr/May 2017)

Using a pass statement is an explicit way of telling the interpreter to do nothing.
Eg:
def bar():
pass
If the function bar() is called, it does absolutely nothing.
21.Do Loop statements have else clause?When will it be executed?
The else block just after for/while is executed only when the loop is not terminated by a
break statement.
22.What is a bool? (Nov/Dec 2017)
A bool is a boolean value that is either true or false.
23.What are the identity operators used in Python?
1. is and is not are the identy operator in python.
2. They are used to check if two values (or variable) are located on the same part of the
memory.
24. What are the membership operators used in python?
1.in and not in are the membership operators in python. They are used to test whether a value or
variable is found in a sequence (string, list, tuple, set and dictionary)
2.In a dictionary they test for presence of key, not the value.
25. What is split function? Give example. (Apr/May 2017)
The split function strip leading or trailing white space from a string.
Example:
>>>s=’python programming’
>>>s.split()
[‘python’,’programming’]
 UNIT IV
LISTS, TUPLES AND DICTIONARIES
PART- A (2 Marks)
1. What is a list?
A list is an ordered set of values, where each value is identified by an index. The values that make
up a list are called its elements. Lists are similar to strings, which are ordered sets of characters,
except that the elements of a list can have any type.
2.Solve a)[0] * 4 and b) [1, 2, 3] * 3. (Nov/Dec 2017)
>>> [0] * 4 [0, 0, 0, 0]
> [1, 2, 3] * 3 [1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3]
3.Let list = [’a’, ’b’, ’c’, ’d’, ’e’, ’f’]. Find a) list[1:3] b) t[:4] c) t[3:] .
> list = [’a’, ’b’, ’c’, ’d’, ’e’, ’f’]
> list[1:3] [’b’, ’c’]
> list[:4] [’a’, ’b’, ’c’, ’d’]
> list[3:] [’d’, ’e’, ’f’]
4. Mention any 5 list methods.
append() ,extend () ,sort(), pop(),index(),insert and remove()
5. State the difference between lists and dictionary.
List is a mutable type meaning that it can be modified whereas dictionary is immutable and is a
key value store. Dictionary is not ordered and it requires that the keys are hashable whereas list
can store a sequence of objects in a certain order.
6. What is List mutability in Python? Give an example. (Nov/Dec 2017)
Python represents all its data as objects. Some of these objects like lists and dictionaries are
mutable, i.e., their content can be changed without changing their identity. Other objects like
integers, floats, strings and tuples are objects that cannot be changed. Example:
> numbers = [17, 123]
> numbers[1] = 5
> print numbers [17, 5]
7. What is aliasing in list? Give an example. (Apr/May 2017)
An object with more than one reference has more than one name, then the object is said to
be aliased. Example: If a refers to an object and we assign b = a, then both variables refer to the
same object:
> a = [1, 2, 3]
> b=a
> b is a True
8. Define cloning in list. (Nov/Dec 2017)
In order to modify a list and also keep a copy of the original, it is required to make a copy
of the list itself, not just the reference. This process is called cloning, to avoid the ambiguity of the
word “copy”.
9. Explain List parameters with an example.
Passing a list as an argument actually passes a reference to the list, not a copy of the list.
For example, the function head takes a list as an argument and returns the first element:
def head(list):
return list[0]
output:
> numbers = [1, 2, 3]
 > head(numbers)
10. Write a program in Python to delete first element from a
list. (Apr/May 2017)
def deleteHead(list): del list[0]
Here’s how deleteHead is used:
> numbers = [1, 2, 3]
> deleteHead(numbers)
> print numbers [2, 3]
11.Write a program in Python returns a list that contains all but the first element of the
given list. (Nov/Dec 2021)
def
tail(list):
return
list[1:]
Here’s how tail is used:
>>> numbers = [1, 2, 3]
>>> rest = tail(numbers)
> print rest [2, 3]
12. What is the benefit of using tuple assignment in Python?
It is often useful to swap the values of two variables. With conventional assignments a
temporary variable would be used. For example, to swap a and b:
> temp = a
> a=b
> b = temp
> a, b = b, a
13.Define key-value pairs. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The elements of a dictionary appear in a comma-separated list. Each entry contains an index and a
value separated by a colon. In a dictionary, the indices are called keys, so the elements are called
key-value pairs.
14. Define dictionary with an example.(Nov/Dec 2021)
A dictionary is an associative array (also known as hashes). Any key of the dictionary is associated
(or mapped) to a value. The values of a dictionary can be any Python data type. So dictionaries are
unordered key-value-pairs.
Example:
>>> eng2sp = {} # empty dictionary
> eng2sp[’one’] = ’uno’
> eng2sp[’two’] = ’dos’
15. How to return tuples as values? (Apr/May 2017)
A function can only return one value, but if the value is a tuple, the effect is the same as returning
multiple values. For example, if we want to divide two integers and compute the quotient and
remainder, it is inefficient to compute x/y and then x%y. It is better to compute them both at the
same time.
> t = divmod(7, 3)
> print t (2, 1)
16. List two dictionary operations.

 Del -removes key-value pairs from a dictionary

 Len - returns the number of key-value pairs
 17. Define dictionary methods with an example.
A method is similar to a function—it takes arguments and returns a value— but the syntax is
different. For example, the keys method takes a dictionary and returns a list of the keys that appear,
but instead of the function syntax keys(eng2sp), method syntax eng2sp.keys() is used.
> eng2sp.keys() [’one’, ’three’, ’two’]
18. Define List Comprehension. (Nov/Dec 2017)
List comprehensions apply an arbitrary expression to items in an iterable rather than applying
function. It provides a compact way of mapping a list into another list by applying a function to
each of the elements of the list.
19. Write a Python program to swap two variables. (Apr/May 2017)
x=5
y = 10
temp = x
x=y
y = temp
print('The value of x after swapping: {}'.format(x))
print('The value of y after swapping: {}'.format(y))
20. Write the syntax for list comprehension. (Nov/Dec 2017)
The list comprehension starts with a '[' and ']', to help us remember that the result is going to be a
list. The basic syntax is [expression for item in list if conditional].
21. How will you update list items? Give one example.
The append method adds a new element to the end of a list.
Example:
>>>t=['a’,’d’]
>>>t.append(‘h’)
>>>t[‘a’,’d’,’h’]
22. What is list? How lists isdiffer from tuples? (Nov/Dec 2017)
A list is a sequence of values. They can be of any type.
Example:
A=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
The main difference between lists and tuples are:
Lists Tuples
Lists are enclosed in brackets. Tuples are enclosed in parentheses (())
([])
Their elements and size can be changed Cannot be update. Read –only lists

23.Why list is dynamic mutable type? (Apr/May 2017)

A list is also a dynamic mutable type because we can add and delete elements from the list at any
time.
24. How can you access data from a dictionary?
The simplest way to retrieve a value from a dictionary is by directly accessing it with a key. To get
a key’s value, just put the key in brackets, following the name of the dictionary.
25. What is the main use of dictionary? (Nov/Dec 2017)
The main use of dictionary is to look up the value associated with a particular key.
 UNIT V
FILES, MODULES AND PACKAGES
PART- A (2 Marks)

1. What is a text file? (Nov/Dec 2017)

A text file is a file that contains printable characters and whitespace, organized in to
lines separated by newline characters.
2. Write a python program that writes “Hello world” into a
file. f =open("ex88.txt",'w')
f.write("hello world")
f.close()
3. Write a python program that counts the number of words in a file.
(Apr/May 2017)
f=open("test.txt","r")
content =f.readline(20)
words =content.split()
print(words)
4. What are the two arguments taken by the open() function? (Nov/Dec 2017)
The open function takes two arguments : name of the file and the mode of operation.
Example: f = open("test.dat","w")
5. What is a file object?
A file object allows us to use, access and manipulate all the user accessible files. It
maintains the state about the file it has opened.
6. What information is displayed if we print a file object in the given
program? f= open("test.txt","w")
print f
The name of the file, mode and the location of the object will be displayed.
7. What is an exception? (Nov/Dec 2017)
Whenever a runtime error occurs, it creates an exception. The program stops execution
and prints an error message. For example, dividing by zero creates an exception:
print 55/0
ZeroDivisionError: integer division or modulo
8. What are the error messages that are displayed for the following exceptions?
(Apr/May 2017)
a. Accessing a non-existent list item
b. Accessing a key that isn’t in the dictionary
c. Trying to open a non-existent file
a. IndexError: list index out of range
b. KeyError: what
c. IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'filename'
9. What are the two parts in an error message? (Nov/Dec 2017)
The error message has two parts: the type of error before the colon, and speci_cs about the error after
the colon.
10. How do you handle the exception inside a program when you try to open a non-existent
file?
filename = raw_input('Enter a file name: ')
try:
 f = open (filename, "r")
except IOError:
print 'There is no file named', filename
11. How does try and execute work?
The try statement executes the statements in the first block. If no exception occurs, then
except statement is ignored. If an exception of type IOError occurs, it executes the statements in
the exceptbranch and then continues.
12. What is the function of raise statement? What are its two arguments? (Nov/Dec2017)
The raise statement is used to raise an exception when the program detects an error. It takes
two arguments: the exception type and specific information about the error.
13. What is a pickle? (Apr/May 2017)
Pickling saves an object to a file for later retrieval. The pickle module helps to translate almost any
type of object to a string suitable for storage in a database and then translate the strings back in to
objects.
14. What are the two methods used in pickling?
The two methods used in pickling are pickle.dump() and pickle.load(). To store a data structure,
dump method is used and to load the data structures that are dumped , load method is used.
15. What is the use of the format operator? (Nov/Dec 2017)
The format operator % takes a format string and a tuple of expressions and yields a string
that includes the expressions, formatted according to the format string.
16. What are modules?
A module is simply a file that defines one or more related functions grouped together. To reuse
the functions of a given module, we need to import the module. Syntax: import <modulename>
17. What is a package? (Nov/Dec 2017)
Packages are namespaces that contain multiple packages and modules themselves. They are simply
directories.
Syntax: from <mypackage> import <modulename>
18. What is the special file that each package in Python must contain?
Each package in Python must contain a special file called __init__.py
19. How do you delete a file in Python? (Apr/May 2017)
The remove() method is used to delete the files by supplying the name of the file to be deleted
as argument.
Syntax: os.remove(filename)
20. How do you use command line arguments to give input to the program? (Nov/Dec2017)
Python sys module provides access to any command-line arguments via sys.argv. sys.argv is the
list of command-line arguments. len(sys.argv) is the number of command-line arguments.
21. What is a module? Give example.(Nov/Dec 2021)
Modules are pre-written pieces of code that are used to perform common tasks like generating
random numbers, performing mathematical operations,etc.
22.Find the syntax error in the code given: (Nov/Dec 2017)
while True print (‘Hello world’)
while True print (‘Hello world’) shows the invalid syntax error in python. Because the while
statement must end with ( : )symbol. The correct code will be,
while True:
print(“Hello world”)

23. Write a python script to display the current date and time. (Apr/May 2017)
Program:
import datetime
now=datetime.datetime.now()
print(“Current date and time using str method of datetime object:”)
print(str(now))
Output:
Current date and time using str method of datetime object:
2022-10-25 21:44:33.737559
24. What is reusability? (Nov/Dec 2017)
Functionality defined in a single module can be easily reused (through an appropriately defined
interface) by other parts of the application. This eliminates the need to duplicate code.
25. What is scoping. Modules typically define a separate namespace, which helps avoid collisions
between identifiers in different areas of a program.