lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025
COS3711
Advanced Programming
Welcome to the COS3711 examination
Date: 01/11/2025
Time:07:45
Hours: 2hrs
Examiner name: Mr Siphe Mhlana
Internal moderator name: Mr Lazarus Aron
External moderator name: Mrs Nosipho Dladlu (North-west University)
This paper consists of 5 pages.
Total marks: 80
Number of pages: 8
Instructions:
• You may type your answers in a word processor (and then print to PDF) or handwrite
your answers (and then scan to PDF) for submission.
• This is an open-book exam. Answer all questions. Please answer questions in order
of appearance.
• The mark for each question is given in brackets next to each question.
• Note that no pre-processor directives are required unless specifically asked for.
• IRIS must be recording throughout the duration of the examination until the
submission of the examinations scripts
• No AI tools are permitted, including ChatGPT are not allowed
•
Additional student instructions
1. Students must upload their answer scripts in a single PDF file (answer scripts must
not be password protected or uploaded as “read only” files)
2. Incorrect file format and uncollated answer scripts will not be considered.
3. NO emailed scripts will be accepted.
Downloaded by Stephen ()
, lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
4. Students are advised to preview submissions (answer scripts) to ensure legibility and
that the correct answer script file has been uploaded.
5. Incorrect answer scripts and/or submissions made on unofficial examinations
platforms (including the invigilator cell phone application) will not be marked and
no opportunity will be granted for resubmission. Only the last answer file uploaded
within the stipulated submission duration period will be marked.
6. Mark awarded for incomplete submission will be the student’s final mark. No
opportunity for resubmission will be granted.
7. Mark awarded for illegible scanned submission will be the student’s final mark. No
opportunity for resubmission will be granted.
8. Submissions will only be accepted from registered student accounts.
9. Students who have not utilised the proctoring tool will be deemed to have
transgressed Unisa’s examination rules and will have their marks withheld. If a
student is found to have been outside the proctoring tool for a total of 10 minutes
during their examination session, they will be considered to have violated Unisa’s
examination rules and their marks will be withheld. For examinations which use the
IRIS invigilator system, IRIS must be recording throughout the duration of the
examination until the submission of the examinations scripts.
10. Students have 48 hours from the date of their examination to upload their invigilator
results from IRIS. Failure to do so will result in students deemed not to have utilized
the proctoring tools.
11. Students suspected of dishonest conduct during the examinations will be subjected
to disciplinary processes. Students may not communicate with any other person or
request assistance from any other person during their examinations. Plagiarism is a
violation of academic integrity and students who plagiarise, copy from published
work or Artificial Intelligence Software (eg ChatGPT) or online sources (eg course
material), will be in violation of the Policy on Academic Integrity and the Student
Disciplinary Code and may be referred to a disciplinary hearing. Unisa has a zero
tolerance for plagiarism and/or any other forms of academic dishonesty.
12. Listening to audio (music) and making use of audio-to-text software is strictly
prohibited during your examination session unless such usage of the software is
related to a student’s assistive device which has been so declared. Failure to do so
will be a transgression of Unisa’s examination rules and the student's marks will be
withheld.
13. Students are provided 30 minutes to submit their answer scripts after the official
examination time. Students who experience technical challenges should report the
challenges to the SCSC on 080 000 1870 or their College exam support centres (refer
to the Get help during the examinations by contacting the Student Communication
Service Centre [unisa.ac.za]) within 30 minutes. Queries received after 30 minutes
of the official assessment duration time will not be responded to. Submissions made
after the official assessment time will be rejected according to the examination
regulations and will not be marked. Only communication received from your myLife
account will be considered.
14. Non-adherence to the processes for uploading assessment responses will not qualify
the student for any special concessions or future assessments.
Downloaded by Stephen ()
, lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
15. Queries that are beyond Unisa’s control include the following: a. Personal network
or service provider issues
b. Load shedding/limited space on personal computer
c. Crashed computer
d. Non-functioning cameras or web cameras
e. Using work computers that block access to the myExams site (employer firewall
challenges)
f. Unlicensed software (eg license expires during exams)
Postgraduate students experiencing the above challenges are advised to apply for an aegrotat
and submit supporting evidence within ten days of the examination session. Students will
not be able to apply for an aegrotat for a third examination opportunity.
Postgraduate/undergraduate students experiencing the above challenges in their second
examination opportunity will have to reregister for the affected module.
16. Students suspected of dishonest conduct during the examinations will be subjected
to disciplinary processes. UNISA has a zero tolerance for plagiarism and/or any other
forms of academic dishonesty.
17. Students experiencing network or load shedding challenges are advised to apply
together with supporting evidence for an Aegrotat within 3 days of the examination
session.
Downloaded by Stephen ()
, lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
Question 1 [29 marks]
All assessment tasks need to be managed in a software solution. A base class hierarchy for the task
is provided in the given UML class diagram.
1.1 Explain why the class name Assessment and the member function toString() in the given
UML class diagram are in italics. (2)
1.2 Write the class definitions for the Assessment and Exam classes. Consider carefully
whether member functions will be used to change the value of member variables. (8)
1.3 A valid date in the format dd-mm-yyyy may be one of three basic types: (i) dates in months
that have 31 days (January, March, May, July, August, October, and December), (ii) dates
in months that have 30 days (April, June, September, and November), and (iii) dates in
February that have 28 days (ignoring leap years).
Give a regular expression that will ensure valid dates are provided for dates that have 30
days in a month for the years 2000 to 2019. Also, ensure that the recognised string has no
other characters directly before or after the accepted string. (6)
1.4 What do you understand by the term “reflective programming”? (2)
1.5 Rewrite the Assessment class that you defined in 1.2 so that it becomes reflective (and
allows retrieving the mark’s value). (3)
1.6 Assuming that the Assessment class is reflective,
1.6.1 write the definition of the Exam class so that a signal can be emitted that communicates the
exam length (as a float), (2)
1.6.2 write the code for the Exam::toString() function that both returns the Exam data member
in a string format and emits the signal in 1.6.1, and (3)
Downloaded by Stephen ()
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025
COS3711
Advanced Programming
Welcome to the COS3711 examination
Date: 01/11/2025
Time:07:45
Hours: 2hrs
Examiner name: Mr Siphe Mhlana
Internal moderator name: Mr Lazarus Aron
External moderator name: Mrs Nosipho Dladlu (North-west University)
This paper consists of 5 pages.
Total marks: 80
Number of pages: 8
Instructions:
• You may type your answers in a word processor (and then print to PDF) or handwrite
your answers (and then scan to PDF) for submission.
• This is an open-book exam. Answer all questions. Please answer questions in order
of appearance.
• The mark for each question is given in brackets next to each question.
• Note that no pre-processor directives are required unless specifically asked for.
• IRIS must be recording throughout the duration of the examination until the
submission of the examinations scripts
• No AI tools are permitted, including ChatGPT are not allowed
•
Additional student instructions
1. Students must upload their answer scripts in a single PDF file (answer scripts must
not be password protected or uploaded as “read only” files)
2. Incorrect file format and uncollated answer scripts will not be considered.
3. NO emailed scripts will be accepted.
Downloaded by Stephen ()
, lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
4. Students are advised to preview submissions (answer scripts) to ensure legibility and
that the correct answer script file has been uploaded.
5. Incorrect answer scripts and/or submissions made on unofficial examinations
platforms (including the invigilator cell phone application) will not be marked and
no opportunity will be granted for resubmission. Only the last answer file uploaded
within the stipulated submission duration period will be marked.
6. Mark awarded for incomplete submission will be the student’s final mark. No
opportunity for resubmission will be granted.
7. Mark awarded for illegible scanned submission will be the student’s final mark. No
opportunity for resubmission will be granted.
8. Submissions will only be accepted from registered student accounts.
9. Students who have not utilised the proctoring tool will be deemed to have
transgressed Unisa’s examination rules and will have their marks withheld. If a
student is found to have been outside the proctoring tool for a total of 10 minutes
during their examination session, they will be considered to have violated Unisa’s
examination rules and their marks will be withheld. For examinations which use the
IRIS invigilator system, IRIS must be recording throughout the duration of the
examination until the submission of the examinations scripts.
10. Students have 48 hours from the date of their examination to upload their invigilator
results from IRIS. Failure to do so will result in students deemed not to have utilized
the proctoring tools.
11. Students suspected of dishonest conduct during the examinations will be subjected
to disciplinary processes. Students may not communicate with any other person or
request assistance from any other person during their examinations. Plagiarism is a
violation of academic integrity and students who plagiarise, copy from published
work or Artificial Intelligence Software (eg ChatGPT) or online sources (eg course
material), will be in violation of the Policy on Academic Integrity and the Student
Disciplinary Code and may be referred to a disciplinary hearing. Unisa has a zero
tolerance for plagiarism and/or any other forms of academic dishonesty.
12. Listening to audio (music) and making use of audio-to-text software is strictly
prohibited during your examination session unless such usage of the software is
related to a student’s assistive device which has been so declared. Failure to do so
will be a transgression of Unisa’s examination rules and the student's marks will be
withheld.
13. Students are provided 30 minutes to submit their answer scripts after the official
examination time. Students who experience technical challenges should report the
challenges to the SCSC on 080 000 1870 or their College exam support centres (refer
to the Get help during the examinations by contacting the Student Communication
Service Centre [unisa.ac.za]) within 30 minutes. Queries received after 30 minutes
of the official assessment duration time will not be responded to. Submissions made
after the official assessment time will be rejected according to the examination
regulations and will not be marked. Only communication received from your myLife
account will be considered.
14. Non-adherence to the processes for uploading assessment responses will not qualify
the student for any special concessions or future assessments.
Downloaded by Stephen ()
, lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
15. Queries that are beyond Unisa’s control include the following: a. Personal network
or service provider issues
b. Load shedding/limited space on personal computer
c. Crashed computer
d. Non-functioning cameras or web cameras
e. Using work computers that block access to the myExams site (employer firewall
challenges)
f. Unlicensed software (eg license expires during exams)
Postgraduate students experiencing the above challenges are advised to apply for an aegrotat
and submit supporting evidence within ten days of the examination session. Students will
not be able to apply for an aegrotat for a third examination opportunity.
Postgraduate/undergraduate students experiencing the above challenges in their second
examination opportunity will have to reregister for the affected module.
16. Students suspected of dishonest conduct during the examinations will be subjected
to disciplinary processes. UNISA has a zero tolerance for plagiarism and/or any other
forms of academic dishonesty.
17. Students experiencing network or load shedding challenges are advised to apply
together with supporting evidence for an Aegrotat within 3 days of the examination
session.
Downloaded by Stephen ()
, lOMoARcPSD|54878315
COS3711 Oct/Nov 2025
Question 1 [29 marks]
All assessment tasks need to be managed in a software solution. A base class hierarchy for the task
is provided in the given UML class diagram.
1.1 Explain why the class name Assessment and the member function toString() in the given
UML class diagram are in italics. (2)
1.2 Write the class definitions for the Assessment and Exam classes. Consider carefully
whether member functions will be used to change the value of member variables. (8)
1.3 A valid date in the format dd-mm-yyyy may be one of three basic types: (i) dates in months
that have 31 days (January, March, May, July, August, October, and December), (ii) dates
in months that have 30 days (April, June, September, and November), and (iii) dates in
February that have 28 days (ignoring leap years).
Give a regular expression that will ensure valid dates are provided for dates that have 30
days in a month for the years 2000 to 2019. Also, ensure that the recognised string has no
other characters directly before or after the accepted string. (6)
1.4 What do you understand by the term “reflective programming”? (2)
1.5 Rewrite the Assessment class that you defined in 1.2 so that it becomes reflective (and
allows retrieving the mark’s value). (3)
1.6 Assuming that the Assessment class is reflective,
1.6.1 write the definition of the Exam class so that a signal can be emitted that communicates the
exam length (as a float), (2)
1.6.2 write the code for the Exam::toString() function that both returns the Exam data member
in a string format and emits the signal in 1.6.1, and (3)
Downloaded by Stephen ()
