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📜 WAYPOINT LESSON

Predict before you look

⭐⭐⭐ advanced⏳ 10 min read📍 Lesson 169 of 256

Read the stem first, predict without options, then match — and re-trace one specific step when nothing matches.

How to answer an exam MCQ you cannot immediately see. Read the question stem first — "what is the value of x" tells you the finish line before you read the code. Then:

  1. Skim the code for the state that matters (fields, parameters, the objects the stem names). Everything else is scenery.
  2. Predict before reading the options. An uncommitted prediction protects you from plausible-sounding wrong answers.
  3. Match your prediction. If no option matches, re-trace one specific step (usually a boundary or an alias), not the whole program.
  4. Only guess from elimination after one honest re-trace.

On this course's MCQs: the four options are code outputs or final states. Your submission must name the letter and say why — the grader checks both, exactly like the exam rewards explanation over vibes.