Junior Programmer study guide
Junior Programmer · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Junior Programmer certification is an entry-level credential for people in their first year or two of writing code: students, career changers, and self-taught developers who want independent evidence that they can build working programs rather than only recite syntax. It tests breadth over depth. The Junior Programmer study guide has 9 sections and about 3,399 words.
01Programming Fundamentals: Syntax, Variables, Data Types, Operators, and Expressions
Programming fundamentals is the domain every other section depends on: how a program's text becomes valid statements, how values are stored and typed, and how operators combine those values into expressions. The exam asks you to read a short snippet and predict its output, identify a syntax error, and explain why a type mismatch or precedence rule produced a given result.
398 words, about 2 min02Control Flow: Conditionals, Loops, and Logical Decision Making
Control flow is about directing execution: choosing between paths with conditionals and repeating work with loops. The exam tests whether you can trace a loop by hand, predict which branch runs, and recognise a condition that never terminates or a boundary that is off by one.
375 words, about 2 min03Functions, Parameters, Scope, and Modular Code Organization
Functions are the unit of reuse: named blocks that take inputs, do one job, and hand back a result. This domain tests parameter passing, return behaviour, name resolution, and how code is split across modules so that changes stay local.
373 words, about 2 min04Data Structures and Strings: Lists, Dictionaries, Iteration, and Manipulation
Arrays/lists, dictionaries/maps, and strings are the containers that hold most program data. The exam checks indexing, slicing, mutation, lookup semantics, and whether you can pick the right structure - a list for order, a dictionary for keyed lookup, a set for membership.
387 words, about 2 min05Object-Oriented Programming Basics: Classes, Objects, Attributes, Methods, and Inheritance
Object-oriented programming organises code around classes that bundle state (attributes) with behaviour (methods). The exam tests whether you can define a class, create instances, distinguish class-level from instance-level data, and reason about inheritance and method overriding.
366 words, about 2 min06Error Handling, Debugging, and Basic Testing Practices
Error handling, debugging, and testing cover what happens when code does not do what you intended. The exam tests the difference between error categories, correct use of exceptions, and how to write a test that would actually catch a regression.
365 words, about 2 min07File Handling and Use of Standard Libraries
File handling and standard libraries concern the boundary between your program and the outside world: reading and writing files, encoding text, and using the library modules that already solve common problems. The exam tests correct resource handling, file modes, and knowing when to reach for a standard module instead of writing your own parser.
373 words, about 2 min08Algorithms and Problem Solving: Searching, Sorting, and Simple Complexity Reasoning
Algorithms and problem solving covers searching, sorting, and the running-time reasoning that lets you choose between them. The exam asks you to trace an algorithm on a small input, recognise its complexity, and justify a data-structure choice.
373 words, about 2 min09Development Tooling and Version Control Basics
Development tooling and version control is the domain of how code is built, run, and shared. The exam tests the Git commands in a normal daily workflow, what the staging area is for, how branches and merges behave, and which tool - editor, linter, formatter, debugger, package manager - solves which problem.
389 words, about 2 min