10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
These 10 free CSE questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Software Engineer blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Domain 2: Data and Information Management
Question 1
Two dispatch centers are represented by separate rows in PostgreSQL 18. At least one must remain enabled. Under Repeatable Read, concurrent transactions behave as follows:
T1 reads both centers as enabled.
T2 reads both centers as enabled.
T1 disables center A and commits.
T2 disables center B and commits.
Every update uses this check-then-disable procedure. Which change prevents the invariant violation while still allowing concurrent transactions?
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Correct answer: B - Use Serializable for the procedure and retry aborted transactions from the initial eligibility check.
Domain 4: IT Infrastructure
Question 2
Recovery exercise results:
Service failure: 09:00
Service fully restored: 09:22
Newest recoverable data: 08:48
Recovery time objective: 30 minutes
Recovery point objective: five minutes
All times refer to the same morning. Based on these results, where should the next recovery improvement be directed?
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Correct answer: D - Only the recovery time objective was met; reduce the gap between failure and the latest recoverable data.
Domain 5: IS Project Management
Question 3
The latest project status report contains these figures:
Planned value: $120,000
Earned value: $144,000
Actual cost: $180,000
Budget at completion: $400,000
Remaining scope is unchanged, and current cost efficiency is expected to continue. Select the forecast and status interpretation the project manager should report.
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Correct answer: D - $500,000 at completion; ahead of planned work, but spending more than budgeted for the work accomplished.
Domain 7: Computer System Engineering
Question 4
During commissioning of a heat-treatment line, a lost sensor signal leaves the heater energized. The approved hazard analysis requires heating to stop while the cooling pump keeps running; loss of cooling can damage the hot vessel. A tested, independent heater-trip circuit preserves pump power. Rebooting the main controller can briefly re-energize the heater. What should the engineer initiate immediately?
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Correct answer: A - Activate the independent heater trip, maintain cooling, and prevent restart until the fault is resolved.
Domain 8: Software Project Planning
Question 5
Halfway through a two-week Scrum Sprint, the Developers discover that an integration will take longer than estimated. The Sprint Goal remains valuable and achievable if a lower-value reporting item is deferred. The Definition of Done can still be met. Under the November 2020 Scrum Guide, how should the team adapt?
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Correct answer: C - Renegotiate scope with the Product Owner while preserving the Sprint Goal and the Definition of Done.
Domain 9: Software Requirements
Question 6
The acceptance requirement reads:
"During a 30-minute test with 200 concurrent users, at least 95% of valid search requests must return a correct result within two seconds."
The proposed report calculates the 95th-percentile latency using successful responses only; failures and timeouts are omitted. What essential correction would make this report address the requirement?
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Correct answer: D - Use every valid request as the denominator; count only correct results returned within two seconds as successes.
Domain 10: Software Design
Question 7
A client times out after requesting a transfer between two accounts in the same database. The transfer may already have committed. Clients can retry concurrently, and the service can restart between attempts. Each transfer carries a unique request key that is reused only with the identical payload. Which server-side design permits retries without either duplicating a transfer or losing one after a crash?
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Correct answer: C - Commit the transfer and its uniquely keyed result atomically; return the stored result for a repeated key.
Domain 11: Programming Languages and Coding
Question 8
What is printed when this Java 21 program runs?
import java.util.*;
class Demo {
static void revise(List<String> steps) {
steps.add("review");
steps = new ArrayList<>(steps);
steps.add("publish");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
List<String> workflow = new ArrayList<>(List.of("draft"));
revise(workflow);
System.out.println(workflow);
}
}
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Correct answer: A - [draft, review]
Domain 16: Models and Modeling
Question 9
An export job accepts Cancel while Queued or Running, but rejects Cancel after Completed. Retry is permitted only after Failed. The analyst needs a single model that makes these status-dependent responses explicit, including events that are not permitted, rather than showing only one successful execution. Which representation is the closest fit?
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Correct answer: C - A state-machine diagram recording job states and guarded event transitions.
Domain 18: Object Models
Question 10
In a music service, the same Song may appear in several Playlists at different positions. Deleting a Playlist must remove its entries without deleting any Songs. The design review must settle where position belongs and which object owns each entry. Which proposal captures both responsibilities?
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Correct answer: B - Let Playlist compose PlaylistEntry objects; each entry references a Song and holds its position within that playlist.