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PCAP (Certified Associate Python Programmer)

The associate certification: modules, OOP, strings in depth, comprehensions and I/O.

25 published guides

22 of 25 guides need path access. Unlock PCAP path

25-guide Certified Associate Python Programmer learning path · 25 published · about 396 min of reading · 7 learning tracks · reviewed 23 August 2026

Exceptions in Depth3 guides

raise, assert, finally, exception objects, and subclasses of your own.

  1. Concepts 18 min

    Python raise, assert and finally

    Raising deliberately, the assert that vanishes, the assert that never fails, and the finally that swallows an exception whole.

    PCAP 2.1

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  2. Concepts 14 min

    Python Exception Objects and Arguments

    What as e binds, what is on it, and why KeyError prints its key in quotes.

    PCAP 2.1

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 15 min

    Python Custom Exception Classes

    Extending the hierarchy - a family caught by its base, extra data on the object, and what super().__init__ really controls.

    PCAP 2.2

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

Modules and Packages5 guides

Every import form, math, random and platform, then writing a package of your own.

  1. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python Imports and sys.path

    All five import forms, both ways an import fails, and the list Python actually searches.

    PCAP 1.1

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  2. Concepts 15 min Paid

    Python math Module

    The constants, four different ways to discard a fraction, and why sin(90) is not 1.

    PCAP 1.2

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 14 min Paid

    Python random Module

    Every function the objective names, the bounds that differ, and the seed that makes any of it demonstrable.

    PCAP 1.3

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  4. Concepts 12 min Paid

    Python platform Module

    Every function the objective names, and the one that returns an empty string on most Linux machines.

    PCAP 1.4

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  5. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python Modules and Packages

    A file, a directory, __init__.py, and the three ways to make either one findable.

    PCAP 1.5

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

Strings in Depth3 guides

Code points and encodings, ord and chr, and the string methods PCAP names.

  1. Concepts 17 min Paid

    Python Encodings and Code Points

    str against bytes, why café is four characters and five bytes, and mojibake produced on purpose.

    PCAP 3.1

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  2. Concepts 15 min Paid

    Python ord(), chr() and String Operations

    Two functions, three code-point ranges, and the six characters between Z and a that explain string comparison.

    PCAP 3.2

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 17 min Paid

    PCAP String Methods

    The published list run in one go, plus the optional arguments that change every answer.

    PCAP 3.3

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

Object-Oriented Python8 guides

Classes, self, class against instance state, inheritance and the MRO - 34% of the exam.

  1. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python Classes and Objects

    What a class is, what an instance is, and the two methods that decide how your object prints.

    PCAP 4.1

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  2. Concepts 15 min Paid

    Python Constructors

    __init__, its two hard rules, and the default argument that makes two objects share a list.

    PCAP 4.6

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 15 min Paid

    Python Methods and self

    What self is, why the argument counts in error messages look wrong, and the two errors it causes.

    PCAP 4.3

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  4. Concepts 17 min Paid

    Python Instance and Class Variables

    Where each variable lives, the shared list, and the counter that does not count.

    PCAP 4.2

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  5. Concepts 15 min Paid

    Python Private Members and Name Mangling

    What one underscore means, what two actually do, and why Python renames rather than hides.

    PCAP 4.2

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  6. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python Introspection and Class Attributes

    The dunder attributes that describe a class, the four attribute functions, and the docstring that is not inherited.

    PCAP 4.4

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  7. Concepts 17 min Paid

    Python Inheritance and Method Overriding

    What a subclass gets, how to replace or extend a method, and the constructor that silently loses half its object.

    PCAP 4.5

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  8. Concepts 18 min Paid

    Python Multiple Inheritance and MRO

    Two parents, the diamond, and the inheritance order Python refuses to compile.

    PCAP 4.5

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

Comprehensions and Lambdas3 guides

List comprehensions, lambdas, map and filter, and what a closure actually captures.

  1. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python List Comprehensions

    The three parts, the other three comprehension types, and the loop variable that does not leak.

    PCAP 5.1

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  2. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python Lambdas, map() and filter()

    One-expression functions, the two built-ins that take them, and the filter form nobody teaches.

    PCAP 5.2

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python Closures

    A function that remembers, where the remembered value is kept, and the late-binding trap.

    PCAP 5.3

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

Files and Streams3 guides

Modes, predefined streams, reading and writing, and bytearray buffers.

  1. Concepts 16 min Paid

    Python File Streams, Modes and Handles

    What open() gives you, every mode letter, the five ways it fails, and the three streams that are already open.

    PCAP 5.4

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  2. Hands-on Lab 17 min Paid

    Python File Reading and Writing

    The four ways to read, the newline on every line, and the file position that explains the empty second read.

    PCAP 5.5

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 15 min Paid

    Python bytearray and Binary Files

    The mutable bytes type, wb and rb, readinto, and the traceback that explains why binary mode exists.

    PCAP 5.5

    Updated 23 Aug 2026

Command Cheat Sheets1 sheet

What PCAP adds to PCEP, weighted the way the exam is.

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