You might not be familiar with the PL-400 exam – it is the requirement to obtain the “Power Platform Developer Associate” certification.
Why?
Suppose you are not “simply” a developer but an IT consultant, or looking to become one. In that case, knowledge of Microsoft Power Platform can only be considered an asset, as IT consultants are focused more on versatility.
Ideally, you want to analyse the customer’s needs and offer the best solution. After all, you are even more invaluable if you have analytical skills and know various ways to solve a specific problem or accelerate business. But to decide if something should be solved by developing a custom solution, by using and adapting existing standard software, or possibly by using low-code tools, you need to have at least an overview of which low-code tools and platforms even exist. That is where this certification comes in – to give you an overview of how to develop solutions using Microsoft Power Platform.
So, that is enough for the introduction. If you are curious about the differences between being a software engineer and an IT Consultant, I plan to look at this topic, so make sure to come back to the site from time to time.
How?
Well, let’s start with the obvious: this exam is relatively complex. It is not something you can pass without preparation, even if you have actively worked with the Power Platform for a few years. That is because, most likely, during that time, you did not come into contact with every aspect of it, and there are probably some areas you are not entirely familiar with, or maybe not even aware they exist.
And we have the nature of our work to thank for that – most of the time, after you discover you can solve a problem using a specific tool, you seldom find the time to look at whether some similar problem can be solved with some other tool that is better suited for the job.
So, you’re more than likely not even to know all the capabilities of the Power Platform and its integration with, let’s say, Azure, for example, let alone know those capabilities and integrations in detail.
So, preparation will be crucial. Here’s how I did it and the resources I used.
1. Power Platform Developer Environment
This one is a must-have, I would say. You will need a separate Power Apps Testing Environment where you can make changes and experiment without the fear of breaking something in one of your or your client’s real Environments.
As there are sections of the exam that relate to the development of Plugins and PCF Controls, I would not say that the chances are very good for you to pass the exam without practising these developments. And you would not want to do that in a real environment. There are also other things that you should know and practice, like, for example, data flows, which are not feasible to do unless you have a completely separate environment.
As you’re likely to consider this certification only at your manager’s suggestion, I do not find it far-fetched to ask them to set up a new, separate environment for practice.
For a quick overview of how to do this, see the Microsoft Docs: Create a developer environment with the Power Apps Developer Plan.
There is even a section on how you could potentially get your Environment even if you do not have a work account.
2. Go through the official Microsoft Learning Guide
This one is required as well – after all, it’s the official Microsoft Info about the materials and the materials themselves.
In the Study guide for Exam PL-400: Microsoft Power Platform Developer you will find that the following areas are of relevance, with the “Extend the Platform” section given the highest importance:
- Create a technical design (10–15%)
- Build Power Platform solutions (10–15%)
- Implement Power Apps improvements (5–10%)
- Extend the user experience (10–15%)
- Extend the platform (40–45%)
- Develop integrations (5–10%)
The most important resource is the Course PL-400T00-A: Microsoft Power Platform Developer, which offers some very important lessons, even if they are not going too deep.
What I do find handy is that if you log in with your private account – and you absolutely should – the site will track your progress through the study guide – that is quite a nice bonus feature.
While we’re on the subject of the accounts, I suggest you use your private account to register for an exam. I would personally only use my work account if the company is paying for my certification and they explicitly require it. After all, you might decide to leave the company and then have no way to get your certificate. This is what I would do and what I did – but you might want to check with your manager first,
The lessons there are clear and understandable, provided you also do the exercises as well – and for that, you will probably need your Environment, as mentioned in the first point.
3. Check the PL-400 Resources on Online Learning Platforms
This one is optional, although it can be very helpful. There are some days when you do not feel like reading or practising, but can summon enough mental power to watch a video. Even this can be helpful in your efforts, as it helps you avoid falling out of the zone.
Unfortunately, I don’t think these videos alone are enough to get you through all the materials, especially if you’re planning to watch them without taking any notes or practising.
I went through the PL-400 Course on Udemy, and I feel like it did help a lot – Top PL-400: Microsoft Power Platform Developer Associate Courses.
The best videos I found are from this Udemy course: PL-400: Microsoft Power Platform Developer.
The material is well explained in a clear, friendly way, and I strongly recommend the course, but I would not dare risk taking the exam while using only that as a resource.
As I said, it is sometimes easier to watch a video and take notes, or practice along with it, than to do the same when reading the same material on the Microsoft Learn Platform.
4. Get the Practice Test and keep using it right up until the exam
This one might be a bit controversial, but I do strongly believe it has had a tremendous impact on my passing the PL-400. The Practice Test I used is the one from MeasureUp: Microsoft PL-400 Practice Test | Real simulation of PL-400 exam.
While you may not get the same questions on the real exam, I can confirm that these are the exact types of questions you will see. Even the exam UI is very similar to the real thing, at least as far as I can remember.
The idea is simple: they have a set of approximately 160 questions that are shown to you at random, depending on the area in which you wish to practice taking the exam.
You can choose between:
- Certification Mode aims to mimic the actual certification exam as closely as possible, with a time limit and no opportunity to check answers before completing the test. However, as this can last more than an hour, I would suggest not using it if you’re in a hurry, are hungry, or have any other desires that might cause you to rush through the test.
- Practice Mode is basically your playground where you can decide which area you wish to be quizzed in, how much time you want, how many questions you want and whether you should have the ability to check the answers during the test.
Regardless of whether you’re using the Certification or Practice mode, your session is stored in history, which you can access at any time to see which questions you didn’t answer correctly.
The important point is that the answers are VERY comprehensive and helpful – they not only explain why an answer is correct but also why other answers are wrong. And you get direct links to the relevant sections of the Microsoft Documentation so you can read them for yourself. Highly recommended.
5. Take notes
While almost all of the above-mentioned resources come with notes and annotations, during any learning process, you should take your notes and review them from time to time, as this will help the material stay in your head.
One thing I would suggest, though, is to make notes on paper or an e-ink tablet. The reason is that it’s somewhat too easy to fall into the trap of simply copying the course content into a note-taking app without thinking about those notes and, consequently, not processing the material.
