This PCAP practice question tests your understanding of strings. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A developer tries to modify a string: s = 'hello'; s[0] = 'H'. What happens when this code runs?
It changes the string to 'Hello'
Why wrong: Assignment to index fails, so no change.
It raises a TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment
Strings are immutable, so item assignment is not allowed.
It creates a new string 'Hello' and assigns it to s
Why wrong: No, it raises an error.
It raises an IndexError because index 0 is out of range
Why wrong: Index 0 is valid; the error is TypeError due to immutability.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
It raises a TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment
Option A is correct because strings are immutable; assigning to an index raises TypeError. Option B is wrong because it does not assign a new string; assignment to index fails. Option C is wrong because it raises an error, it does not succeed. Option D is wrong because the error is TypeError, not IndexError.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
It changes the string to 'Hello'
Why it's wrong here
Assignment to index fails, so no change.
It raises a TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment
Why this is correct
Strings are immutable, so item assignment is not allowed.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
It creates a new string 'Hello' and assigns it to s
Why it's wrong here
No, it raises an error.
It raises an IndexError because index 0 is out of range
Why it's wrong here
Index 0 is valid; the error is TypeError due to immutability.
Common exam traps
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Identify which PCAP exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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FAQ
Strings — This question tests Strings — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: It raises a TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment — Option A is correct because strings are immutable; assigning to an index raises TypeError. Option B is wrong because it does not assign a new string; assignment to index fails. Option C is wrong because it raises an error, it does not succeed. Option D is wrong because the error is TypeError, not IndexError.
Identify which PCAP exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This PCAP practice question is part of Courseiva's free Python Institute certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCAP exam.
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