APCS-A Final Exam Information -- December 2025

General Exam Information

Exam Value: 20% of your overall semester grade

Allotted Time: Approximately 90 minutes (but you may begin up to 45 minutes before the start of the period)

Allowed Materials: Nothing (no electronics, networks, mobile devices, files, books, notes, or neighbors)*

* A Google Doc will be allowed for the code-writing question (see below)

Exam Format: 1) Answer 45 multiple-choice questions relating to Java

2) Write code for one Java method

Suggestions on Preparing for the Exam

Make sure you know/learn all of the information listed on this page

Review your coding assignments from this semester

Retake the practice and actual full quizzes

Specifics on Multiple-Choice Questions

You will be given a paper exam with 45 multiple-choice questions

Each of the 45 questions will have five answer choices

For each question, you should read all five answer choices and choose the best answer

You will write your answers (a capital letter for each question) on a separate paper answer sheet

Combined, the 45 multiple-choice questions will be worth 75% of your final exam grade

Some of the questions will involve terminology (see below)

Some of the questions will involve finding errors in code (see below)

Some of the questions will involving using operators, variables, and statements correctly

Some of the questions will involve determining the output produced by one or more lines of code

[See below for sample multiple-choice questions]

Specifics on Code-Writing Question

You will be given a paper exam with the signature for a specific method

The method will deal with one-dimensional Java arrays, ArrayLists, Java String methods, and loops

You will write only the code that goes inside the method

You will not write any import lines or a 'main' method

You will not get any user input or use any global variables

You will type your code directly into a Google Doc (with no access to a code editor, the Web, other files, or notes)

You will need to turn in your multiple-choice paper answer sheet before logging into your computer

The code-writing question will be worth 25% of your final exam grade

Skills and Topics Possibly Needed for the Final Exam

Variable types: String Integer Double Float Boolean Character int double float boolean char

Symbols for surrounding code, strings, lists, numbers, and characters: { } [ ] ( ) < > " " ' '

Operators: = && || == ! != % ++ -- += -= *= /=

Commenting Characters: // /* */

Output statements: System.out.println() System.out.print()

Conditional statement syntax and function: if if else if else else. . .

Loop syntax and function: for while do while

Types of errors: syntax logic runtime user

ArrayList methods: .add() .set() .get()   .remove()   .clear()   .size() .contains()   .indexOf()   .lastIndexOf()

String and character methods: .length() .substring() .charAt() .indexOf() .lastIndexOf() .contains()

.equals() .equalsIgnoreCase() .trim()    .toUpperCase()    .toLowerCase()

Identifier naming conventions and restrictions

Casting variables into different types

Converting variable types via "wrapper" classes

The relationship between the variable types 'char' and 'int' and ASCII values

Using quotation marks (" ") for variables of type 'string' and apostrophes (' ') for variables of type 'char'

Extracting individual and groups of characters from strings

Constructors: signature lines, naming, purposes, and uses (including the 'new' keyword)

The 'new' keyword and how it is used to create objects

Method signatures

Passing values to and from, and returning values from, methods: when the variable type is needed

The format and purpose of comments

Arrays and ArrayLists

Two-dimensional arrays, including determining the number of rows and columns in an array

Using '.length()' and '.size()' and '.length'

Strings vs. primitive variable types

Custom user types

Tracing 'for', 'while', and 'do-while' loops

Determining output from segments of code, including recursive methods

Determining the number of rows and columns in a two-dimensional array

Using '.equals()' and '=='

Compound 'if' statements

Short-circuiting 'if' statements (with && and ||)

Using forward slashes (/) and backslashes (\)

Using 'return' (both with and without data) to leave a method

Additional Coding Notes

In Java, ! can be used as part of a != and also by itself in front of a comparison

In Java, parentheses must be used with 'if' and 'for' and 'while' lines

In Java, (two) semicolons separate the three parts of a 'for' statement

In a Java 'for' statement, the middle part is a 'while' condition (without the word "while")

In Java, a semicolon is usually not placed at the end of a 'for' or 'if' statement

In Java, without braces { }, only one line will be part of an 'if' or 'else' condition or a 'for' or 'while' loop

In Java, num++ is equivalent to num += 1 is equivalent to num = num + 1

In Java, numbering for strings and lists starts at zero (0), not one (1)

Order matters when assigning values to variables (x = 7 vs. 7 = x)

With integers, modding by 10 gives the last digit, while dividing by 10 gets rid of the last digit

Java variable names can contain letters, numbers, underscores, and dollar signs, but cannot start with a number

Terms to Understand and Know How They Relate to Java Programs

NOTE: In addition to the definitions below, you should know how these terms relate to the code in programs

Class -- a series of instructions that define how an object will look (attributes) and act (behaviors); used to

create objects and define the initial state of the objects (via constructors and private variables) and

the information that the objects will contain

Object -- a specific instance of a class; used to perform actions or tasks in a program; defined by its attributes

and behaviors; unlimited (independent, if not static) objects can be created from a single class

Attributes -- describe how an object looks; are most often instance variables

Behaviors -- define what an object can do; usually methods

Method -- a section of code that performs some action defined by a class; one or more statements that direct

an object to perform a specific task

Constructor -- a method in a class that has the same name as the class; it has no return type and is used to

create instances (objects) of the class and initialize variables, as needed; a class can contain

multiple constructors

new -- a keyword used in conjunction with a constructor in a class to create a new instance of that class

Identifier -- the name used to refer to a variable, method, class, or package

Method Signature -- the line at the start of a method that defines the method; it specifies the level of access

to the method, the method's return type, the name of the method, and the method's

parameters (if any)

void -- a keyword that can be used in the signature line of a method to indicate that the method does not

return a value

Argument -- a value, variable, or expression passed to a method (inside the parentheses) when the method

is called; sometimes called an "actual parameter"

Parameter -- a declaration inside the parentheses of a method signature; it holds a value (argument) passed

to the method when it is called; sometimes called a "formal parameter"

Return Type -- the type of value (string, double, boolean, ArrayList, etc.) returned (sent back) from a method;

it must match the type of return value specified in the method's signature

Code Block -- a section of code consisting of two or more statements, usually appearing within the opening and

closing braces of a method, loop, or conditional statement

Infinite Loop -- a loop that never ends; this is generally caused by the loop's exit condition(s) never being met

Rectangular Two-Dimensional Array -- a 2D array that has the same number of columns in every row

Define a Variable -- to declare the name of a new variable, along with the type of value that it will hold

Initialize a Variable -- to give a variable its starting (initial) value

Scope -- the area of a program in which a variable, constant, or method has value and can be accessed

Global Variable -- a variable that is defined inside a class, but outside all methods, which means that it can be

accessed from within all methods defined within the class; it exists for the life of the class

Local Variable -- a variable that is defined inside a method, which means the scope of the variable is local and

the variable has value and can be accessed only from within the method in which it was defined;

the variable can be passed into other methods, where it will be a local variable in those methods;

a variable defined within the scope of a loop or conditional statement is also a local variable

Counter Variable -- a variable used with a loop that is incremented or decremented by a set amount every time

the loop is run; although it doesn't have to change by a value of one, it generally does keep

track of how many times the code in the loop has been executed

Debug -- to find and fix errors (bugs) in program code

Execute -- to run a program or a segment of computer code

Escape Sequence -- a blackslash, immediately followed by a character, that causes the computer to interpret

the sequence in a special way; often used to display characters or symbols that are difficult

to display using normal printing techniques (e.g., tabs, quotation marks, newlines)

Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

Sample #1) What is the syntax error in the following code segment?

String word = "hamburger";

if (word.charAt(5) == "r")

System.out.print("Yeee!\n");

A) the '\n' should be '/n'

B) the 'if' line is missing a semicolon at the very end

C) the quotations marks on the 'if' line (" ") should be apostrophes (' ')

D) the method 'charAt()' should be 'charat()'

E) [there are no syntax errors in the code segment]

C

Sample #2) With regard to Java double and float variable types:

A) the 'double' data type can be more precise than the 'float' data type

B) both 'double' and 'float' variables can hold decimal numbers

C) the 'double' data type uses less memory than the 'float' data type

D) [a & b only]

E) [b & c only]

D

Sample #3) What will be the output from the following code segment?

for (int w = 7; w < 3; w--)

System.out.print(w + ", ");

A) 7, 6, 5, 4,

B) 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,

C) 6, 5, 4,

D) [an infinite number of integers will be displayed]

E) [no output will be produced by the code segment]

E

Sample #4) With regard to the method '.equals()' and the '==' operator:

A) the method '.equals()' should be used when comparing objects

B) the '==' operator should be used when comparing primitive data types

C) when comparing strings, the method '.equals()' should always be used

D) [all of the above]

E) [none of the above]

D

Sample #5) What will be the output from the following call to the method 'mystery' below?

mystery("Successfully");

public static void mystery(String str)

{

if (str.length() > 1)

{

if (str.charAt(0) == str.charAt(1))

System.out.print(str.charAt(0));

mystery(str.substring(1));

}

}

A) csl

B) ccssll

C) ccessfullyssfullylly

D) SuccessfullySuccessfullySuccessfully

E) [no output will be produced and an infinite loop will occur]

A

Sample #6) What is a term for a loop that never ends?

A) while loop

B) for loop

C) infinite loop

D) recursive loop

E) [none of the above]

C

Sample #7) What will be the value of the variable 'word' after the following code segment is executed?

int num1 = 2, num2 = 7;

String word = "";

while (num1 < num2)

{

if (num2 % 2 == 0)

{

word = word + "x";

}

num1 += 2;

num2++;

}

A) x

B) xx

C) xxx

D) xxxx

E) xxxxx

B

Sample #8) The process of finding and fixing errors in a computer program is called:

A) initializing

B) debugging

C) defining

D) escaping

E) [none of the above]

B