Student Record Management System Viva Questions & Answers

1. Basic Understanding
Q1. What is the purpose of your project? A1. To manage student records digitally, allowing addition,
viewing, searching, deletion, and summary reporting.

Q2. What are the main features of your system? A2. Add student, view all students, search by roll
number, delete student, summary report.

Q3. How does your program help teachers or students? A3. Saves time, reduces manual errors, allows
easy searching and calculation of results.

Q4. Why did you choose this project? A4. It's practical, simple, and demonstrates basic Python
programming concepts like file handling and loops.

Q5. What is the difference between your program and a manual register? A5. The program is faster,
more accurate, allows searching and summarizing data automatically.

2. Implementation Questions
Q6. Which programming language did you use and why? A6. Python, because it is simple and supports
file handling effectively.

Q7. How is your program structured? A7. Menu-driven with separate functions for each operation: add,
view, search, delete, and summary report.

Q8. How do you add a student? A8. User enters roll number, name, class, marks, grade; the program saves
this record in a file.

Q9. How do you view all student records? A9. The program reads each line from the file and displays it in
a formatted manner.

Q10. How do you search for a student? A10. Program reads all lines, splits each line by comma, and
matches the roll number.

Q11. How do you delete a student record? A11. Reads all lines, keeps only the lines not matching the
given roll number, and overwrites the file.

Q12. How do you calculate average marks and find the topper? A12. Loop through all records, sum
marks for average, and keep track of the student with highest marks.

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Q13. What happens if you enter an invalid roll number? A13. The program prints "Student not found".

3. File Handling Questions

Q14. Where are the student records stored? A14. In a text file named students.txt.

Q15. Why did you use a text file instead of a database? A15. Text files are simple, require no extra
software, and are sufficient for a small project.

Q16. What is the purpose of "r", "w", "a", and "x" in open()? A16. r=read, w=write (overwrite), a=append,
x=create new file if not exist.

Q17. How do you read records from the file? A17. Using readlines() and then splitting each line by comma.

Q18. How do you save new records without write()? A18. Using print(..., file=f) to append data to the file.

Q19. How do you delete a record from the file? A19. Rewrite the file excluding the line to delete.

Q20. How does your program handle an empty file? A20. It prints "No student records found" or "No
student records available".

Q21. Difference between with open and open/close? A21. with open automatically closes the file; open/
close requires manual closing.

Q22. How do you split data in each line? A22. Using line.strip().split(",") to separate roll, name, class,
marks, and grade.

4. Python Concepts Questions

Q23. Which data types did you use? A23. Strings for text fields, integers for marks, and lists for temporary
storage of lines.

Q24. How do you process multiple records? A24. Each line in the file represents one student record.

Q25. How do you use loops? A25. For loop is used to read each record from the file.

Q26. How do you use conditionals? A26. If statements check roll numbers, highest marks, and empty file
conditions.

Q27. Why did you use functions? A27. To make code modular, readable, and easier to maintain.

Q28. How do you concatenate strings? A28. Using + operator to join data before saving to the file.

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Q29. How do you convert marks to integer? A29. Using int() for calculation of average and finding the
topper.

5. Error Handling / Edge Cases

Q30. What happens if the file does not exist? A30. Program creates it using "x" mode.

Q31. What happens if user enters invalid marks? A31. Program may give error; input validation can be
added.

Q32. What happens if duplicate roll numbers exist? A32. Program allows it; no check is implemented.

Q33. What happens if you try to delete a non-existent student? A33. Program prints "Student not
found".

Q34. What happens if summary report is run on empty file? A34. Program prints "No student records
available".

6. Optimization / Complexity Questions

Q35. Time complexity of searching a student? A35. O(n), where n is number of records.

Q36. Efficiency for large files? A36. Slower for large data; using database would be better.

Q37. How to improve for large data? A37. Use SQLite, dictionaries, or GUI with database for faster lookup.

7. Extension / Improvement Questions

Q38. How to add GUI? A38. Use Tkinter to create input forms and display data.

Q39. How to store multiple subjects? A39. Add more fields in the file for each subject.

Q40. How to add attendance? A40. Store attendance as extra field or separate file.

Q41. How to use database instead of file? A41. Use SQLite/MySQL to store records, allowing faster
searches and larger data handling.

Q42. How to make it secure? A42. Add password or login feature for teachers.

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8. Scenario-Based Questions
Q43. What happens if letters are entered in marks? A43. Program will give error; input validation is
needed.

Q44. What happens if file is very large? A44. Program may slow down; using a database is better.

Q45. Two students with same highest marks? A45. Program shows the first one found as topper.

Q46. Empty file and view students? A46. Prints "No student records found".

Q47. How to sort alphabetically by name? A47. Read all lines into a list, use sort() on the list, and rewrite
the file.

9. Conceptual Questions
Q48. Why not csv or datetime? A48. To demonstrate manual file handling and string manipulation.

Q49. Why not lists or dictionaries in memory? A49. File storage ensures data persists after the program
closes.

Q50. Real-world application? A50. Functions as a simple school management software for student records.

Q51. Why use comma-separated values? A51. Simple, human-readable, easy to process.

Q52. How to handle duplicate roll numbers? A52. Add validation to check existing roll numbers before
adding a new student.