Consider the variable a = [1,2,3] in Python.
1. Distinguishing Novice from Competent/Expert:
Given the function
def doSomething(b):<br />
b[1] = 60
What is the value of a after calling doSomething(a)?
(a) 1 [60] 3
(b) 1 50 3
(c) 1 60 3
(d) The function throws an exception because parameter b is immutable (read-only)
2. Distinguishing Competent from Expert:
Suppose we have been given another function doSomethingElse and the only thing we know is that it takes a single argument. If we wanted to call doSomethingElse(a) and guarantee that its argument a would never be changed under any circumstance, we could write:
(a) doSomethingElse(copy.deepcopy(a))
(b) doSomethingElse(a[:])
(c) doSomethingElse((a))
(d) doSomethingElse(copy.copy(a))