Free Practice Questions for WGU Scripting-and-Programming-Foundations Exam

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To build a picnic table, the steps must be performed in a logical order. According to foundational programming principles (e.g., Certiport Scripting and Programming Foundations Study Guide), algorithms require correct sequencing to achieve the desired outcome. We analyze the steps to identify the logical order and find which steps are misplaced.

Current Order:

Measure and mark lumber cuts.

Buy the needed materials.

Determine the needed materials.

Cut the lumber to the proper dimensions.

Assemble the pieces and paint.

Logical Order Analysis:

Determine the needed materials (Step 3) must come first, as you need to know what materials are required before purchasing them.

Buy the needed materials (Step 2) follows, as you purchase the materials identified.

Measure and mark the lumber cuts (Step 1) comes next, as you need the materials on hand to measure and mark.

Cut the lumber to the proper dimensions (Step 4) follows marking.

Assemble the pieces and paint (Step 5) is the final step.

Issue: Step 3 (determine materials) is after Step 2 (buy materials), which is illogical because you must know what to buy before purchasing. Switching Steps 2 and 3 corrects this:

New order: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5.

Option A: "1 and 3." Incorrect. Switching Step 1 (measure/mark) and Step 3 (determine materials) places measuring before determining materials, which is illogical since you need materials first.

Option B: "1 and 2." Incorrect. Switching Step 1 (measure/mark) and Step 2 (buy materials) places buying before determining materials (Step 3), which remains out of order.

Option C: "2 and 3." Correct. Switching Step 2 (buy materials) and Step 3 (determine materials) results in: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, where materials are determined before buying.

Option D: "2 and 4." Incorrect. Switching Step 2 (buy materials) and Step 4 (cut lumber) places cutting before determining materials, which is illogical.

Certiport Scripting and Programming Foundations Study Guide (Section on Algorithms and Sequencing).

General Algorithm Design Principles (logical step ordering).

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Object-oriented programming (OOP) languages are distinguished by their use of objects, which encapsulate data and behavior, and support features like inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation. According to foundational programming principles (e.g., Certiport Scripting and Programming Foundations Study Guide), this object-based approach is unique to OOP and not inherent to procedural or functional paradigms.

Option A: "The language is optimized for recursive programming." This is incorrect. Recursion is a technique supported by many languages across paradigms, including procedural (e.g., C), functional (e.g., Haskell), and object-oriented (e.g., Java). It is not unique to OOP.

Option B: "The language is based on the concept of modular programming and the calling of a subroutine." This is incorrect. Modular programming and subroutines (functions or procedures) are central to procedural languages (e.g., C) and also supported in functional languages. While OOP languages support modularity, this is not their distinguishing feature.

Option C: "The language treats programs as evaluating mathematical functions." This is incorrect. This describes functional programming languages (e.g., Haskell, Lisp), which emphasize immutability and function evaluation, not OOP.

Option D: "The language supports decomposing a program into objects that interact with one another." This is correct. OOP languages (e.g., Java, C++, Python) are characterized by organizing code into objects that encapsulate data and methods, interacting through messages or method calls. This is not a feature of procedural (e.g., C) or functional (e.g., Scheme) languages, which focus on procedures or functions, respectively.

Certiport Scripting and Programming Foundations Study Guide (Section on Programming Paradigms).

Python Documentation: “Classes” (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/classes.html).

W3Schools: “Java OOP” (https://www.w3schools.com/java/java_oop.asp).

A language characterized by a series of method calls is typically referred to as a functional language. In functional programming, computation is treated as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing-state and mutable data. It is a declarative programming paradigm, which means programming is done with expressions or declarations instead of statements. In functional languages, functions are first-class citizens, meaning they can be passed as arguments to other functions, returned as values from other functions, and assigned to variables.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A sorting algorithm is correct if it consistently produces a sorted output (e.g., ascending order: [6, 8, 10] for input [10, 6, 8]). According to foundational programming principles, if an algorithm fails to sort any input correctly, it is considered incorrect for the general case.

Analysis:

Input: [10, 6, 8].

Output: [6, 10, 8].

Correct sorted output: [6, 8, 10] (ascending).

The algorithm’s output [6, 10, 8] is not sorted, as 10 > 8.

Option A: "The algorithm is incorrect." This is correct. Since the algorithm fails to sort [10, 6, 8] correctly, it is not a valid sorting algorithm for arbitrary inputs. A single failure proves incorrectness for the general case.

Option B: "The algorithm only works for [10, 6, 8]." This is incorrect. The algorithm does not “work” for [10, 6, 8], as it produces an incorrect output.

Option C: "The algorithm’s correctness is unknown." This is incorrect. The given example demonstrates incorrectness, so the algorithm is known to be incorrect.

Option D: "The algorithm is correct." This is incorrect. The algorithm fails to sort the given input correctly.

Certiport Scripting and Programming Foundations Study Guide (Section on Sorting Algorithms).

Cormen, T.H., et al., Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd Edition (Chapter 2: Sorting).

GeeksforGeeks: “Sorting Algorithms” (https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/sorting-algorithms/).

The operators used for checking divisibility are the division (/) and modulus (%) operators. The division operator (/) returns the quotient of the division, and if the quotient is a whole number without any remainder, then the number is divisible by the divisor. The modulus operator (%) returns the remainder of the division, and if the remainder is zero, it indicates that the number is divisible by the divisor. These operators are fundamental in programming for performing arithmetic operations and are widely supported across different programming languages.

The use of these operators is based on standard arithmetic operations and their implementation in programming languages, which is a foundational concept in advanced scripting and programming1234.

In the Agile software development life cycle, the Implementation phase is where the actual coding and development of the project take place. This is the stage where a function to calculate shipping costs based on an item’s weight and delivery zip code would be created. The Implementation phase involves translating the design and analysis work into functional software components. It’s during this phase that developers write code and build features that will eventually be tested and refined in subsequent phases.

 A student’s grade point average (GPA) is a numerical representation that typically includes a decimal to account for the precision of the average (e.g., 3.75). Therefore, it should be declared as a floating-point data type to accommodate the decimal part. Since a student’s GPA can change over time with the addition of new grades, it should be declared as a variable rather than a constant.

The loop condition expression is the part of a loop that determines whether the loop will continue to execute or terminate. It is evaluated before each iteration of the loop, and if it evaluates to true, the loop body is executed; if it evaluates to false, the loop terminates. In the options provided, F < 27 is a Boolean expression that checks if f is less than 27, which is typical of a loop condition used to control the number of iterations of the loop.

One of the fundamental characteristics of object-oriented programming (OOP) is the concept of decomposing a program into objects that interact with one another1. This is distinct from procedural and functional programming paradigms, which do not inherently structure programs as a collection of objects. In OOP, objects are instances of classes and contain both data (attributes) and code (methods). These objects encapsulate data and operations and can interact with each other through methods, allowing for concepts such as inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation12.

In contrast, procedural programming is characterized by a focus on procedures or routines to perform tasks, and functional programming treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions without side effects or state changes2. Neither paradigm organizes code around objects with encapsulated data and methods, which is a defining feature of OOP1.

C, C++, and Java are all considered compiled languages. This means that the code written in these languages is not executed directly by the hardware but must first be translated into machine code by a compiler.

C is a general-purpose programming language that is compiled to generate machine code which can be executed directly by the computer’s CPU1.

C++ is an extension of C that includes object-oriented features. It is also a compiled language, where the source code is converted into machine code that can be executed by the CPU2.

Java is a bit unique because it is compiled into bytecode, which is then run on a virtual machine (JVM) rather than directly by the CPU. However, it is still considered a compiled language because the source code is compiled before it is executed2.