Preparing for the Salesforce Platform Developer 1 Certification can be a game-changer for your career as a Salesforce professional. Whether you’re an aspiring developer or looking to deepen your platform expertise, understanding how to prepare for Platform Developer 1 Certification is essential to ensure success.
This certification tests your knowledge of programmatic concepts like Apex, Visualforce, and Lightning Web Components and challenges your grasp of best practices, debugging, and deployment strategies. In this post, we will explore key topics, strategies, and resources to help you confidently pass the exam and elevate your Salesforce skills.
The Salesforce Platform Developer 1 (PD1) Certification is designed for individuals with the knowledge, skills, and experience to build custom applications on the Lightning Platform. This foundational credential validates your ability to create custom business logic and interfaces using Apex, Visualforce, and basic Lightning components.
Whether you’re an aspiring Salesforce developer or someone in a related role, this certification is a great way to deepen your understanding of the platform.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the key topics, exam structure, and strategies for passing the PD1 exam.
Exam Basics
Here are the critical details about the Platform Developer 1 Certification exam:
- Number of Questions: 60 scored questions and five unscored questions.
- Time Limit: 105 minutes.
- Passing Score: 68%.
- Exam Fee: $200 (plus taxes); retakes cost $100.
- Mode: Online or at a testing center.
- Prerequisites: None, but familiarity with the platform is highly recommended.
This certification is foundational for Salesforce developers and valuable for other roles, including admins, architects, business analysts, product owners, and project managers. While official prerequisites are not required, having Salesforce Admin and Platform App Builder certifications and two years of experience in the Salesforce ecosystem can provide a solid foundation.
What the Exam Covers
The PD1 exam goes beyond coding and covers various topics every Salesforce professional should understand. It is divided into four key sections:
Developer Fundamentals (23%)
This section focuses on the foundational concepts of Salesforce development:
- Multi-tenant architecture.
- Design frameworks such as MVC and Lightning components.
- Data model options, including lookup and master-detail relationships.
- When to use declarative programming versus Apex.
Expect scenario-based questions that test your understanding of data models and architecture decisions.
Process Automation and Logic (30%)
The most extensive section of the exam, this topic requires:
- A firm grasp of declarative process automation tools like Flows and Process Builder.
- Knowledge of how declarative tools integrate with Apex.
- Understanding Apex basics, such as variables, methods, modifiers, control flow statements, and interfaces.
- Familiarity with SOQL, SOSL, and DML operations.
You’ll encounter code snippets and scenario-based questions that test your ability to identify outcomes, errors, and best practices in Apex.
User Interface (25%)
This section covers the user interface development tools available on the Salesforce platform:
- Basics of Visualforce and the Lightning Component framework.
- Describing and implementing Lightning Web Components (LWC) and their benefits.
- Using custom UI components and preventing security vulnerabilities.
Scenario-based questions will challenge your ability to implement Apex for page components, work with controllers or extensions, and secure data access.
Testing, Debugging, and Deployment (22%)
This section tests your ability to manage code and configurations effectively:
- Writing and executing tests for triggers, controllers, classes, and flows.
- Debugging issues and monitoring flows, asynchronous jobs, and batch processes.
- Understanding deployment processes, including Salesforce DX, CLI, and the Developer Console.
Scenario-based questions will evaluate your knowledge of deployment strategies and debugging tools.
How to Prepare for Platform Developer 1 Certification Exam
- Review the Exam Guide: Start by thoroughly reading the official Trailhead Exam Guide. It provides an overview of the topics and the weightage of each section.
- Hands-On Practice: Use Salesforce Trailhead and Developer Playgrounds to practice what you learn. Real-world experience is invaluable for this exam.
- Study Resources
- Trailhead Modules: Focus on Apex, Visualforce, LWC, and other developer-focused modules.
- Checkout our Course : Platform Developer 1 Certification Course
- Practice Tests: Checkout our Practice tests for the Platform Developer 1 Certification.
- Documentation: Use Salesforce’s official developer documentation to dive deeper into complex topics.
Focus on Best Practices: Learn the best practices for writing efficient, secure, and scalable code. Understand governor limits and how to optimize transactions within those constraints.
Join the Community: Engage with the Trailblazer Community and Salesforce forums to learn from other professionals and share your experiences.
Final Thoughts
The Salesforce Platform Developer 1 Certification is a comprehensive exam beyond coding to test your overall understanding of the Salesforce platform. With the proper preparation and resources, you can master the key topics and pass the exam confidently.
Checkout our course Platform Developer 1 Certification course to prepare for the exam and pass your exam in first attempt.
Remember to check out additional study guides, tips, and resources to ensure you’re fully prepared. Good luck on your journey to becoming a Salesforce Platform Developer!
