Introduction & Setup — Python Questions with Answers

Q1. easy

Who created the Python programming language?

1. A James Gosling
2. B Guido van Rossum
3. C Dennis Ritchie
4. D Bjarne Stroustrup

Q2. easy

Python is best described as:

1. A A compiled, low-level language
2. B An interpreted, high-level language
3. C A markup language
4. D A database language

Q3. easy

What file extension do Python files use?

1. A .pt
2. B .pyt
3. C .py
4. D .python

Q4. easy

What is the output of: print("Hello, World!")

print("Hello, World!")   # Hello, World!

1. A Hello, World!
2. B "Hello, World!"
3. C print(Hello, World!)
4. D Error

Q5. easy

Which symbol starts a single-line comment in Python?

# This is a comment
print("Hi")  # comments can follow code too

1. A //
2. B #
3. C /*
4. D --

Q6. easy

How do you typically write a multi-line comment / documentation string in Python?

def greet():
    """This function prints a greeting."""
    print("Hello")

1. A Triple quotes """ ... """
2. B /* ... */
3. C <!-- ... -->
4. D ## ... ##

Q8. easy

Python is case-sensitive. What does that mean?

name = "Ana"
# print(Name)   # NameError: Name is not defined

1. A Uppercase letters are not allowed
2. B name, Name and NAME are three different variables
3. C Strings must be lowercase
4. D Keywords must be uppercase

Q9. easy

How does Python know which lines belong inside an if statement or a loop?

if score > 50:
    print("Pass")    # inside the if
print("Done")        # outside the if

1. A Curly braces { }
2. B The keyword 'end'
3. C Indentation (spaces at the start of the line)
4. D Semicolons

Q10. easy

What error do you get when the spacing at the start of lines is inconsistent?

if True:
    print("a")
   print("b")   # IndentationError!

1. A SyntaxError only
2. B IndentationError
3. C SpacingError
4. D TypeError

Q11. easy

Which command runs a Python file called app.py from the terminal?

1. A run app.py
2. B python app.py
3. C execute app.py
4. D app.py start

Q13. easy

What is the output of: print(2 + 3) print("2 + 3")

print(2 + 3)     # 5
print("2 + 3")   # 2 + 3

1. A 5 then 5
2. B 5 then 2 + 3
3. C 2 + 3 then 5
4. D 2 + 3 then 2 + 3

Q14. easy

What does \n mean inside a string?

print("Hello\nWorld")
# Hello
# World

1. A A literal backslash-n
2. B A new line
3. C A tab
4. D Nothing - it's an error

Q15. easy

Which escape sequence inserts a TAB space inside a string?

print("Name\tAge")
print("Ana\t21")
# Name    Age
# Ana     21

1. A \n
2. B \s
3. C \t
4. D \b

Q19. easy

What is the output of: print("A", "B", "C")

1. A ABC
2. B A B C
3. C A,B,C
4. D ("A", "B", "C")

Q21. easy

Which line correctly asks the user for their name and stores it?

name = input("Your name: ")
print("Hello,", name)

1. A name = input("Your name: ")
2. B input = name("Your name: ")
3. C name = read("Your name: ")
4. D get name "Your name: "

Q22. easy

Are semicolons required at the end of Python statements?

x = 1
y = 2        # normal
x = 1; y = 2  # legal but unpythonic

1. A Yes, always
2. B No - a new line ends a statement
3. C Only inside functions
4. D Only in Python 2

Q26. easy

Which command shows which Python version is installed?

1. A python --version
2. B python --v
3. C version python
4. D python ?version

Q30. easy

Which of these is a popular editor / IDE for writing Python?

1. A VS Code
2. B PyCharm
3. C IDLE (comes with Python)
4. D All of the above

Q7. medium

What type of value does input() always return?

age = input("Age: ")     # user types 25
print(type(age))          # <class 'str'>
age = int(age)            # now it's a number

1. A int
2. B float
3. C str
4. D It depends on what the user types

Q12. medium

What is the Python REPL / interactive shell?

>>> 2 + 3
5
>>> "py" * 3
'pypypy'

1. A A tool that converts Python to C
2. B A prompt where you type code and see results immediately
3. C A graphical app builder
4. D Python's package installer

Q16. medium

How can you print: She said "hi" (with the double quotes)?

print('She said "hi"')      # works
print("She said \"hi\"")    # also works

1. A print('She said "hi"')
2. B print("She said "hi"")
3. C print(She said "hi")
4. D It is impossible to print quotes

Q17. medium

What does the sep parameter do in print("a", "b", "c", sep="-")?

print("a", "b", "c")            # a b c
print("a", "b", "c", sep="-")   # a-b-c

1. A Prints a-b-c (puts - between the values)
2. B Prints abc- (adds - at the end)
3. C Separates the output onto 3 lines
4. D Causes an error

Q18. medium

What does the end parameter do in print("Hello", end="")?

print("Hello", end=" ")
print("World")
# Hello World   (one line)

1. A Ends the program
2. B Prevents print from moving to a new line afterwards
3. C Deletes the last character
4. D Prints Hello twice

Q20. medium

A user runs: n = int(input()) and types: hello What happens?

try:
    n = int(input("Number: "))
except ValueError:
    print("That's not a number!")

1. A n becomes 0
2. B n becomes "hello"
3. C ValueError - invalid literal for int()
4. D The program waits for a number

Q23. medium

How can a long statement be continued onto the next line?

total = (1 + 2 + 3 +
         4 + 5)        # preferred

total = 1 + 2 + 3 + \
        4 + 5          # backslash style

1. A With a backslash \ at the end of the line, or inside brackets ( )
2. B With the keyword 'continue'
3. C With a semicolon
4. D It's impossible - statements must fit one line

Q24. medium

What does help(print) do in the Python shell?

>>> help(print)
# Help on built-in function print ...

1. A Prints the word 'help'
2. B Shows the documentation for the print function
3. C Opens a web browser
4. D Causes an error

Q25. medium

What appears when you run: import this

1. A An error - 'this' doesn't exist
2. B The Zen of Python - a poem of design principles
3. C The Python version number
4. D A list of all keywords

Q27. medium

In what order does Python execute the lines of a script?

print("first")

def greet():
    print("third - only when called")

print("second")
greet()

1. A Top to bottom, line by line
2. B It starts from a main() function like C
3. C Alphabetical order of variables
4. D Random order

Q28. hard

What is the difference between an expression and a statement?

y = 2 + 3        # '2 + 3' is an expression,
                  # 'y = 2 + 3' is a statement

1. A They are the same thing
2. B An expression produces a value; a statement performs an action
3. C Expressions are only used in loops
4. D Statements always return values

Q29. hard

Python code is actually compiled before running. Into what?

1. A Machine code for your CPU
2. B Bytecode, executed by the Python Virtual Machine
3. C JavaScript
4. D Assembly language