Exam Prep Guide
Object-Oriented Programming Exam Prep
A topic-by-topic guide to what's actually covered in Object-Oriented Programming, how to prepare for it properly, and the mistakes that cost students the most marks.
What's Typically Covered
Programming Paradigms
- POP vs OOP
- Limitations of POP
Need & Significance of OOP + UML
- History & Advantages of OOP
- Real-World Modeling
- Introduction to UML
- Basic UML Class Diagram Notation
Classes, Objects & UML Modeling
- Classes & Objects
- Attributes & Methods
- Drawing Simple UML Class Diagrams
Inheritance
- Concept of Inheritance
- Code Reuse
- Types of Inheritance
Advanced Inheritance
- Multiple Inheritance
- Base & Derived Classes
- Access Control in Inheritance
- Diamond Problem & Virtual Inheritance
Encapsulation
- Data Hiding
- Access Modifiers
- Importance of Encapsulation
Constructors & Class Features
- Constructors & Destructors
- Static Members
- Const vs Non-Const Functions
Advanced Class Concepts
- Function Overloading
- Operator Overloading
Polymorphism
- Compile-Time Polymorphism
- Function Overloading
- Operator Overloading
Runtime Polymorphism
- Function Overriding
- Virtual Functions
Abstraction
- Abstract Classes
- Interfaces
- Pure Virtual Functions
Object Relationships
- Identification of Classes
- Association
Aggregation & Composition
- Types of Relationships
- UML Representation of Relationships
Generic Programming
- Function Templates
- Class Templates
File Handling & Exception Handling
- File Streams
- Object Serialization
- Exception Handling
Standard Template Library (STL)
- Containers
- Iterators
- Algorithms
How to Actually Prepare
- Trace constructor/destructor call order by hand for multi-level inheritance — this is one of the most common written-exam question types, and it genuinely can't be pattern-matched without practice.
- Actually compile and run small overloading/overriding examples instead of only reading the theory — which function gets called (especially with polymorphism) is easy to misjudge on paper alone.
- Draw the UML class diagram BEFORE writing any code for a design question — most marks in design questions come from getting the relationships right (association vs aggregation vs composition), not from syntax.
Common Mistakes Students Make
- Confusing aggregation with composition — the real exam distinction is ownership and lifetime, not just “has-a” vs “has-a”.
- Forgetting that a base class destructor needs to be virtual for correct cleanup through a base pointer — a classic trick question.
- Treating function overloading and function overriding as the same idea just because both involve “same name, different behavior.”
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