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Databricks Data Engineer Associate Study Guide

Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate

The Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate exam is for data engineers who build pipelines on the Databricks Platform. It covers the platform and its compute, ingesting data with COPY INTO, Auto Loader and Lakeflow Connect, transforming data with PySpark and SQL, orchestrating with Lakeflow Jobs, CI/CD with Git folders and Declarative Automation Bundles, troubleshooting and optimization, and governance with Unity Catalog.

  • Databricks certification
  • Associate level
  • 7 exam sections

This guide is free, with no sign-up. It explains every Databricks Data Engineer Associate exam topic in plain English, one chapter at a time. Read them in order or jump straight to the topic you need.

  • 7chapters
  • 15topics
  • 5diagrams and exhibits
  • 1 h 18 minfast track
Start with Databricks Intelligence Platform
  • Every topic follows the same simple pattern: what it is, how it works, common mistakes
  • Diagrams and real command output where a picture explains it best
  • Exam tips and worked subnetting and IPv6 practice, with answers

How the exam is weighted

Each domain is worth this share of the exam, so spend your study time in proportion. Select a domain to open its chapter.

Chapters

Open a chapter to see its topics and how long each takes.

1Databricks Intelligence Platform1 topic · 5 min fast trackControl and compute planes, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog and choosing the right compute for each workload.
  1. 1Platform Architecture, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog and Compute5 min
Read the chapter overview →
2Data Ingestion and Loading3 topics · 15 min fast trackBatch, streaming and incremental loads, COPY INTO, Auto Loader, Lakeflow Connect, JDBC and REST sources.
  1. 1Ingestion Patterns and Choosing a Method5 min
  2. 2COPY INTO and Auto Loader5 min
  3. 3Lakeflow Connect, JDBC and REST Sources5 min
Read the chapter overview →
3Data Transformation and Modeling3 topics · 16 min fast trackBronze to silver cleaning, joins, aggregation, Spark tuning, Gold objects and data quality.
  1. 1Cleaning and Reshaping Data from Bronze to Silver5 min
  2. 2Joins, Deduplication, Aggregation and Spark Tuning5 min
  3. 3Gold Layer Objects and Data Quality6 min
Read the chapter overview →
4Working with Lakeflow Jobs2 topics · 12 min fast trackTask types, DAG dependencies, run if conditions, retries, branching, looping, schedules and data driven triggers.
  1. 1Tasks, Dependencies and Control Flow6 min
  2. 2Job Triggers and Schedules6 min
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5Implementing CI/CD2 topics · 10 min fast trackGit folders branches and commits, bundle variables and targets, deploying bundles and the Databricks CLI.
  1. 1Git Workflow in Databricks Git Folders5 min
  2. 2Declarative Automation Bundles and the Databricks CLI5 min
Read the chapter overview →
6Troubleshooting, Monitoring, and Optimization2 topics · 10 min fast trackJob run history and statuses, Spark UI skew and spill, Liquid Clustering and compute failures.
  1. 1Monitoring Lakeflow Jobs Runs5 min
  2. 2Spark Bottlenecks, Table Layout and Compute Failures5 min
Read the chapter overview →
7Governance and Security2 topics · 10 min fast trackManaged vs external tables, GRANT and REVOKE in Unity Catalog, row filters, column masks and ABAC.
  1. 1Managed and External Tables and Privileges5 min
  2. 2Row Filters, Column Masks and ABAC Policies5 min
Read the chapter overview →

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The full Databricks Data Engineer Associate question bank has 598 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.

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