Quick reference

Every chapter's objectives in one place. Use it to find where you are: scan for the first row you cannot honestly claim, and start there.

objects-and-methods

Chapter	You should be able to	Standard
Primitives	Predict the result of integer division and modulus Explain when a cast is needed and where to put it Recognise integer overflow Say why floating-point comparisons fail	`java21`

selection-and-iteration

Chapter	You should be able to	Standard
Boolean expressions	Evaluate a compound boolean expression by hand Explain what short-circuit evaluation does and when it matters Apply De Morgan's laws to simplify a negated condition Avoid the == versus .equals trap on objects	`java21`
Loops	Trace a loop by hand and produce its output Count how many times a loop body executes Convert between for and while Recognise the off-by-one and the infinite loop	`java21`

class-creation

Chapter	You should be able to	Standard
Writing a class	Write fields, constructors, accessors and mutators from a specification Use this to disambiguate a parameter from a field Explain what private buys and why the exam insists on it Write toString and know when it is called	`java21`

data-collections

Chapter	You should be able to	Standard
Arrays	Declare, create and initialise an array Traverse an array with both loop forms and know when each is usable Avoid ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException at both ends Explain why an array parameter can be modified by a method	`java21`
ArrayList	Use the ArrayList methods the exam tests Explain why an ArrayList holds objects rather than primitives Remove elements while iterating without skipping any Choose between an array and an ArrayList	`java21`
2-D arrays	Declare and traverse a 2-D array in row-major order Use the correct length for rows and columns Traverse by column when a problem requires it Explain why Java has no true 2-D array	`java21`
Search and sort	Implement linear and binary search State the precondition binary search requires Trace selection and insertion sort after a given number of passes Compare the algorithms by number of comparisons	`java21`
Recursion	Identify the base case and the recursive case Trace a recursive call by hand and produce its output Explain why a missing base case causes StackOverflowError Recognise recursion over arrays and strings	`java21`

the-exam

Chapter	You should be able to	Standard
Free response	Recognise the four free-response types Write an answer that collects partial credit Avoid the errors that lose points on correct code Budget time across the section	`java21`