Question 1

How do you work with dictionaries (get, setdefault, items, merging)?

Accepted Answer

**Target Audience:** Beginners preparing for Python interviews — no prior knowledge assumed beyond variables and lists.
**Difficulty:** Easy
**Python version:** Checked on CPython 3.11 and the page runner (Pyodide 0.25.1 = CPython 3.11.3). The `|` and `|=` operators need Python 3.9 or newer.

> **How to read this doc:** Each idea is explained in plain language first, then tagged with `📌 Interview term:` — the precise word an interviewer expects you to use. Every output shown was produced by act

Question 2

What is the difference between append, extend and insert on a list?

Accepted Answer

**Target Audience:** Beginners preparing for Python interviews — you need to know what a list is; nothing more.
**Difficulty:** Easy
**Python version:** Checked on CPython 3.11 (64-bit Linux) and the page runner (Pyodide 0.25.1 = CPython 3.11.3, a 32-bit WebAssembly build).

> **How to read this doc:** Each idea is explained in plain language first, then tagged with `📌 Interview term:` — the precise word an interviewer expects you to use. Every output shown was produced by actually running the

Question 3

How do break, continue, pass and loop else work?

Accepted Answer

**Target Audience:** Beginners learning Python control flow; also a quick refresher before an interview.
**Difficulty:** Easy
**Python version:** Behaviour checked on CPython 3.11.17 and in the page runner (Pyodide 0.25.1, CPython 3.11.3); the `finally` note was also checked against the 3.14 release notes.

> **How to read this doc:** Each idea is explained in plain words first, then tagged with `📌 Interview term:` — that is the exact vocabulary an interviewer expects to hear. Every output show

Question 4

What does if __name__ == "__main__" do?

Accepted Answer

**Target Audience:** Beginners writing their first scripts and modules; anyone who has copied the line without knowing why.
**Difficulty:** Easy
**Python version:** Checked on CPython 3.11.17, 3.12.3 and 3.13.16 (identical output) and in the page runner (Pyodide 0.25.1, CPython 3.11.3).

> **How to read this doc:** Ideas come in plain words first, then a `📌 Interview term:` callout with the precise name an interviewer uses. Every output below is copied from a real run; the **Verified** section

Question 5

What is the difference between a list and a tuple?

Accepted Answer

**Target Audience:** Beginners preparing for Python interviews — no prior Python knowledge assumed.
**Difficulty:** Easy
**Python version:** Behaviour checked on CPython 3.11 (python3.11 and the in-page Pyodide 0.25.1 runtime, which is CPython 3.11.3). Bytecode names are those of 3.11.

> **How to read this doc:** Each idea is explained in plain language first, then tagged with `📌 Interview term:` so you also learn the exact word an interviewer expects. Every output shown in the **Verified** se

Question 6

What are Python's built-in data types?

Accepted Answer

**Target Audience:** Beginners preparing for Python interviews — no prior Python knowledge assumed.
**Difficulty:** Easy
**Python version:** Behaviour checked on CPython 3.11 (python3.11 and the in-page Pyodide 0.25.1 runtime, which is CPython 3.11.3).

> **How to read this doc:** Each idea is explained in plain language first, then tagged with `📌 Interview term:` so you also learn the exact word an interviewer expects. Every output shown in the **Verified** section was copied from a real run o

PYTHONDECODED.

Easy

How do you work with dictionaries (get, setdefault, items, merging)?

What is the difference between append, extend and insert on a list?

How do break, continue, pass and loop else work?

What does if name == "main" do?

What is the difference between a list and a tuple?

What are Python's built-in data types?