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Cert++

  1. Home
  3. Study Resources
  5. Platform Developer 1
Resource Pack
·Study Checklist

Platform Developer 1

4-Step Path to Passing

  1. 1
    Complete the
    PD1 Trailmix
    Salesforce maintains an official trailmix for this exam. Work through it completely. Pay extra attention to Apex Basics and Database, Apex Triggers, Asynchronous Apex, and the LWC modules - those are the heaviest tested areas.
  2. 2
    Look at the
    Study Checklist
    Every concept you need to know for your exam, available for free to check off as you learn.
  3. 3
    Attempt
    Practice Exams
    I recommend my own practice exams, but I have linked other options in the Study Resources section below. PD1 is a code-comprehension exam, so if you are guessing on questions with code snippets, keep studying before you book a seat.
  4. 4
    Schedule Your Exam
    Exams run daily. There is no need to book far in advance. When you are consistently scoring above 80% on practice exams, schedule with a few days' notice and go pass it.

Core Resources

  • Cert++ Practice Exam (1 free exam per cert, then paid)

    Free practice questions with detailed explanations. $10/mo for access to all questions, features, and certifications.

    certplusplus.com

  • Daily Certle Game (3 free questions per day)

    Practice your Salesforce certification knowledge daily with a challenge inspired by Wordle. Topics might not perfectly align with your preferred exam, but there is a lot of overlap between the certs.

    certplusplus.com

  • Focus on Force PD1 Practice Exams (Paid)

    Paid practice exams with detailed answer explanations for PD1.

    focusonforce.com

  • Study for the Platform Developer Exam (Trail)

    Salesforce's official cert prep trail with interactive study tools and flashcards.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Official Trailmix

    Salesforce's curated Trailmix for the Platform Developer 1 credential.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Official Exam Guide

    Salesforce's official breakdown of topics, weights, and recommended preparation resources.

    help.salesforce.com

  • Apex Developer Guide

    The complete official reference for the Apex programming language.

    developer.salesforce.com

  • Apex Governor Limits Reference

    Every governor limit you need to memorize: SOQL, DML, heap, CPU, callouts, and async limits.

    developer.salesforce.com

  • Triggers and Order of Execution

    The definitive save order of execution diagram, a staple question on the PD1 exam.

    developer.salesforce.com

  • LWC Developer Guide

    Official reference for LWC decorators, lifecycle hooks, wire service, and event system.

    developer.salesforce.com

  • SOQL and SOSL Reference

    Complete syntax reference for SOQL aggregate functions, relationship queries, and SOSL.

    developer.salesforce.com

  • r/salesforce PD1 Passing Stories

    Community passing stories, study tips, and resources from people who recently passed PD1.

    reddit.com

  • Cert++ Discord

    The Cert++ community Discord for Salesforce professionals. Exam prep, resource sharing, study groups, and more. Free and open to all.

    discord.gg

  • Trailblazer Community

    Connect with other Salesforce learners for peer support, mentoring, and study groups.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • r/salesforce

    Salesforce subreddit for discussions, career questions, certification tips, and community support.

    reddit.com

  • SFXD Discord

    Large Salesforce community Discord with channels for admin topics, career advice, and technical help.

    discord.gg

  • Salesforce Certification Score Calculator

    Check your exam score based on section results. Estimates your total score from category percentages (community-maintained third-party tool).

    scuvanov.github.io

Exam Overview

From the official exam guide

Questions

65

60 scored5 unscored

Duration

105 min

1h 45m

To Pass

65%

Min. score

Pricing

$200 registration · $100 retake

Delivery

Online proctored or at a testing center

Experience

Hands-on experience building on the Salesforce platform recommended

Prerequisites

Platform Administrator recommended but not required

Exam Topics

Each topic section shows the topic weight, learning objectives, and links to study resources.

Developer Fundamentals27%

Multi-tenant architecture, MVC on the Salesforce platform, declarative vs. programmatic decision-making, governor limit awareness, data modeling with objects and relationships, external IDs, formula fields, roll-up summaries, and Agentforce for Developers awareness.

  • Understand multi-tenant concepts and design frameworks, such as MVC architecture and Lightning Component Framework.
  • Given a scenario, identify common use cases and best practices for declarative versus programmatic customizations, including governor limits, formula fields, and roll-up summaries.
  • Given a scenario, determine, create, and access the appropriate data model including objects, fields, relationships, and external IDs.
  • Understand use cases and limitations of using Agentforce for Developers.

Resources

  • Getting Started with APEX Development

    Quickstart guide to Apex development with Salesforce CLI and VS Code.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex & .NET Basics

    Apex syntax, data types, classes, collections, and how the platform MVC model maps to .NET concepts.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Fundamentals for Developers

    Apex terminology, features, access modifiers, static vs. instance, and where Apex code lives.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Data Modeling

    Custom objects, fields, relationships (lookup vs. master-detail), schema builder, and external IDs.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Formulas and Validations

    Formula fields, cross-object formulas, roll-up summary fields, and validation rules.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Data Management

    Data import, export, deduplication tools, and data quality fundamentals.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Platform Events Basics

    Event-driven architecture, publishing and subscribing to platform events, and CometD streaming.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Agent Customization with Apex

    Apex agent actions, prompt templates, and how Apex methods are exposed to Agentforce.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Cert Prep: Platform Developer: Developer Fundamentals

    Exam-focused flashcards and practice questions on MVC, data modeling, and platform fundamentals.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

Process Automation and Logic28%

Apex class and trigger authoring, variables, constants, access modifiers, interfaces, control flow, SOQL and SOSL syntax, DML statements, governor limits, bulkification patterns, save order of execution, asynchronous Apex, exception handling, and combining declarative automation with code.

  • Identify the capabilities of the declarative process automation features.
  • Understand how to declare variables, constants, methods, modifiers, Apex interfaces, and the appropriate use cases for each.
  • Given a scenario, assess how Apex control flow statements will execute and when to apply different control flow statements.
  • Given a scenario, write SOSL, SOQL, and DML statements in Apex, and assess what they will return.
  • Given a scenario, follow best practices to write Apex classes and triggers.
  • Given a scenario, understand governor limits and their implications on Apex transactions.
  • Describe the relationship between Apex transactions, the save order of execution, and the potential for recursion and/or cascading.
  • Implement exception handling in Apex, including custom exceptions as needed.
  • Given a scenario, use declarative functionality and Apex together to automate business logic.

Resources

  • Use Apex to Automate Business Processes

    Hands-on project writing Apex code to automate a business task end to end.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Basics & Database

    Apex syntax, sObjects, DML statements, SOQL, SOSL, collections, and exception handling.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Database & .NET Basics

    SQL-to-SOQL translation, SOSL syntax, DML via Database methods, and SOQL relationship queries.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Triggers

    Before/after trigger types, context variables (Trigger.new, Trigger.old, Trigger.newMap), bulk design patterns, and one-trigger-per-object handler pattern.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Asynchronous Apex

    Future methods, batch Apex, Queueable Apex, and scheduled Apex with governor limit implications for each.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Approve Records with Approval Processes

    Approval process setup, entry criteria, step assignments, and integration with Apex triggers.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Record-Triggered Flows

    Record-triggered flow types, trigger timing (before/after save), and flow vs. trigger decision criteria.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Search Solution Basics

    SOSL search groups (ALL FIELDS, NAME FIELDS, EMAIL FIELDS), FIND syntax, and when to use SOSL vs. SOQL.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Cert Prep: Platform Developer: Automation and Logic

    Exam flashcards and practice questions covering SOQL/SOSL/DML, Apex classes, triggers, and governor limits.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Integration Services

    REST and SOAP callouts, HttpRequest/HttpResponse classes, Named Credentials, and callout governor limits.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

User Interface25%

LWC component model, @api/@track/@wire decorators, lifecycle hooks, event handling and bubbling, Lightning Data Service, Apex integration via wire and imperative calls, Visualforce standard and custom controllers, view state, and security vulnerabilities in UI code.

  • Given a scenario, prevent user interface and data access security vulnerabilities.
  • Given a scenario, display and use custom user interface components, including Lightning components, Flow, and Visualforce.
  • Describe the use cases and best practices for Lightning Web Components, including the framework, benefits, and events.
  • Given a scenario, implement Apex to work with various types of page components, including Lightning components, Flow, and Agentforce.

Resources

  • Quick Start: Lightning Web Components

    Set up a DX project, create and deploy a basic LWC, and add it to an app page.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Build a Bear-Tracking App with Lightning Web Components

    Wire service, record forms, inter-component communication via events, and building flexible LWC apps.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Lightning Web Components Basics

    @api, @track, @wire decorators, lifecycle hooks, template syntax, and component composition.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Best Practices in Lightning Web Components

    Performance patterns, data caching, component communication best practices, and accessibility.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Lightning Web Components for Aura Developers

    LWC vs. Aura comparison, CustomEvent dispatch, event bubbling vs. composed, and wire service adapters.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Visualforce Basics

    Standard and custom controllers, controller extensions, view state, action methods, and Visualforce in Lightning.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Secure Server-Side Development

    SOQL injection prevention (String.escapeSingleQuotes), with/without/inherited sharing, FLS and CRUD enforcement.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Cert Prep: Platform Developer: User Interface

    Exam flashcards and practice questions covering LWC, Visualforce, and Lightning Component Framework.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Visualforce & Lightning Experience

    Embedding Visualforce in Lightning, navigation service, design considerations, and when to rebuild vs. reuse.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Lightning Web Components for Visualforce Developers

    How Visualforce patterns translate to LWC: standard controller vs. wire, page references, and data access.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

Testing, Debugging, and Deployment20%

Writing Apex test classes with proper coverage, Test.startTest/stopTest for governor limit resets, HttpCalloutMock for callout testing, debug logs and the Developer Console, Salesforce CLI and VS Code extensions, sandbox types (Developer, Developer Pro, Partial, Full), change sets, and SFDX-based deployment.

  • Write and execute tests for triggers, controllers, classes, and flows using various sources of test data.
  • Given a scenario, know how and when to use the Salesforce Developer tools such as Salesforce DX, Salesforce CLI, and Developer Console.
  • Describe how to approach debugging system issues and monitoring flows, performance, asynchronous, and batch jobs.
  • Describe the environments, requirements, and process for deploying code and associated configurations.

Resources

  • Find and Fix Bugs with Apex Replay Debugger

    Replay debug logs in VS Code to trace variable state and identify root causes of Apex errors.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Quick Start: Salesforce DX

    Create, convert, and deploy a DX app using Salesforce CLI commands.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Testing

    @isTest, System.assert, Test.startTest/stopTest, @testSetup, callout mocks, and 75% coverage requirement.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Testing: Prepare for Unit Testing

    Test data setup patterns, @testSetup vs. inline data creation, and test isolation best practices.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Apex Testing: Write Unit Tests

    Writing test methods, Test.setMock for HttpCalloutMock and StaticResourceCalloutMock, and assertion patterns.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Developer Console Basics

    Anonymous Apex execution, debug log viewing, log inspector, checkpoints, and query editor.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Org Development Model

    Org-based vs. source-driven development, change tracking, sandbox types, and change set deployment.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Cert Prep: Platform Developer: Testing, Debugging, and Deployment

    Exam flashcards and practice questions on test classes, debug tools, sandboxes, and deployment options.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • Command-Line Interface (CLI) Basics

    Salesforce CLI commands for org authorization, metadata push/pull, test execution, and deployment.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

  • App Development with Salesforce DX

    Scratch orgs, DX project structure, source-tracked deployments, and CI/CD pipeline basics.

    trailhead.salesforce.com

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