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CPA-21-02 Cpa – C++ Certified Associate Programmer Practice Questions

Prepare for CPA-21-02 with more than an answer.

275 questions in the full set20 sample questionsUpdated Aug 11, 2025
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Exam fee
$345 USD
Level
Associate
Valid for
lifetime
Domains covered on the exam 5
  1. Types & Operators24.5%
  2. Control & Exceptions18%
  3. Functions & Preprocessor Directives17.5%
  4. Pointers11%
  5. Classes & Namespaces29%
  1. 1

    A developer is creating a template function processData that should behave differently for int types than for all other types. Which C++ feature allows for creating a specialized implementation of a template for a specific type? (Select the best answer)

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    Correct answer: C

    Template specialization is the C++ mechanism for providing a custom implementation of a function template, class template, or member template for a specific data type. The syntax for specializing the processData function for int would be:

    template
void processData (int data) { ... }

    This allows the compiler to select this specific version when processData is called with an int, while using the generic template for all other types.

  2. 2

    A developer is trying to implement a copy constructor for the Widget class. Which of the following signatures is the correct and canonical form for a copy constructor?

    class Widget {
private:
int* data;
public:
// ... other members
// Correct copy constructor signature?
};
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    Correct answer: B

    The canonical signature for a copy constructor is ClassName(const ClassName& other). It must take its parameter by reference to avoid infinite recursion (passing by value would require a copy). The parameter should be a const reference because the copy operation should not modify the source object.

  3. 3

    What is the output of the following program?

    #include

class Base {
public:
virtual void print() { std::cout << "Base "; }
};

class Derived : public Base {
public:
void print() override { std::cout << "Derived "; }
};

void display(Base b) {
b.print();
}

int main() {
Derived d;
display(d);
return 0;
}
    Show answer details

    Correct answer: B

    The function display takes its parameter b by value. When the Derived object d is passed to display, a copy is made. Because the parameter type is Base, the Derived part of the object is "sliced off", and only the Base part is copied into b. Inside display, b is a Base object, not a Derived object. Therefore, the call b.print() invokes Base::print(), not Derived::print(). Polymorphism only works with pointers or references.

  4. 4

    The throw() exception specifier, while part of older C++ standards, is deprecated in C++11 and removed in C++17. What is its modern C++ equivalent, used to specify that a function will not throw any exceptions?

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    Correct answer: C

    In C++11 and later, the noexcept specifier should be used to indicate that a function does not throw exceptions. It provides stronger compile-time guarantees and enables more optimizations than the deprecated throw() specifier. For example: void myFunction() noexcept;

  5. 5

    What is the primary mechanism in C++ to resolve the ambiguity and state duplication caused by the 'diamond problem' in multiple inheritance?

    graph TD A[Base] --> B[Derived1] A --> C[Derived2] B --> D[FinalDerived] C --> D
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    Correct answer: B

    Virtual inheritance is the C++ feature designed specifically to solve the diamond problem. By having Derived1 and Derived2 inherit virtual-ly from Base, it ensures that any class inheriting from both Derived1 and Derived2 (like FinalDerived) will contain only one instance of the Base class subobject. This resolves ambiguity when accessing members of Base from an object of FinalDerived.

  6. 6

    A software engineer is developing a custom memory pool for an embedded system with tight memory constraints. The goal is to avoid standard library overhead. The following code snippet is part of the memory manager. What is the primary issue with this implementation?

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    Correct answer: B

    The core issue is memory alignment. new char[POOL_SIZE] returns a pointer that is guaranteed to be aligned for char, but not necessarily for any arbitrary type T. If T has stricter alignment requirements (e.g., double or a struct with specific members), placing it at an unaligned address pool + offset invokes undefined behavior. A robust memory pool must account for alignof(T) when calculating offsets.

  7. 7

    A developer is building a high-performance logging framework. To avoid ambiguity and ensure type safety, they want to prevent implicit conversions from integers to their custom LogLevel enum class. Which code snippet correctly achieves this?

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    Correct answer: C

    The enum class (scoped enumeration) is specifically designed to provide strong type safety. It prevents implicit conversions to and from integer types. Programmers must explicitly cast if a conversion is needed. The call setLogLevel(0) will fail to compile because 0 is an int and cannot be implicitly converted to the LogLevel type.

  8. 8

    A junior developer wrote the following function to process a configuration file. During a code review, a senior developer points out a potential issue with exception safety. What is the primary problem?

    #include
#include
#include

void processConfig(const char* filename) {
std::ifstream* file = new std::ifstream(filename);
if (!file->is_open()) {
delete file;
throw std::runtime_error("Cannot open file");
}

// Assume this function can throw an exception
parseData(*file);

delete file;
}
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    Correct answer: B

    This code violates the RAII (Resource Acquisition Is Initialization) principle. If parseData(*file) throws an exception, the function's execution stack is unwound, and control transfers to the nearest catch block. The final delete file; line is skipped, resulting in a memory leak. The correct approach is to manage the resource with an object whose destructor handles cleanup, such as creating the std::ifstream object on the stack or using a smart pointer like std::unique_ptr.

  9. 9

    An architect is designing a system with different types of user accounts (e.g., AdminUser, GuestUser, PowerUser), all derived from a common User base class. The system needs a factory function that can create any type of user account based on a string identifier and return a pointer to the base User class. However, the architect wants to prevent clients from accidentally slicing the objects if they are copied. Which of the following are necessary steps to achieve this design? (Select TWO)

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    Correct answer: A, C

  10. 10

    Consider the following macro definition. What is the output when the main function is executed?

    #include
#define SQUARE(x) x * x

int main() {
int a = 4;
std::cout << SQUARE(a + 1);
return 0;
}
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    Correct answer: B

    The preprocessor performs a direct text substitution. The line std::cout << SQUARE(a + 1); expands to std::cout << a + 1 * a + 1;. Due to operator precedence, the multiplication 1 * a is performed first. The expression evaluates as 4 + (1 * 4) + 1, which is 4 + 4 + 1, resulting in 9. To fix this, the macro should be defined with parentheses: #define SQUARE(x) ((x) * (x)).

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