Free study guide

Salesforce Platform Developer Study Guide

Salesforce Certified Platform Developer

The Salesforce Certified Platform Developer exam is for developers who build custom business logic and user interfaces on the Salesforce Platform with Apex, SOQL, Lightning Web Components and Flow. It covers developer fundamentals, Apex and triggers, governor limits, the user interface, and testing, debugging and deployment. The exam has 60 questions in 105 minutes, and you need 68% to pass.

  • Salesforce certification
  • 4 exam sections
  • 60 questions

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

  • 4chapters
  • 19topics
  • 5diagrams and exhibits
  • 1 h 19 minfast track
Start with Developer Fundamentals
  • 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.

1Developer Fundamentals4 topics · 17 min fast trackMulti-tenancy, MVC, declarative versus programmatic choices, the data model and Agentforce for Developers.
  1. 1Multi-Tenancy, MVC and the Lightning Component Framework4 min
  2. 2Declarative versus Programmatic Customization5 min
  3. 3The Data Model for Developers4 min
  4. 4Agentforce for Developers4 min
Read the chapter overview →
2Process Automation and Logic7 topics · 29 min fast trackApex syntax, SOQL, SOSL, DML, triggers, governor limits, order of execution and exceptions.
  1. 1Declarative Automation and Combining Flow with Apex4 min
  2. 2Apex Language Basics and Control Flow4 min
  3. 3SOQL, SOSL and DML in Apex4 min
  4. 4Apex Triggers and Class Best Practices4 min
  5. 5Governor Limits in Apex Transactions4 min
  6. 6Transactions, Order of Execution and Recursion5 min
  7. 7Exception Handling and Custom Exceptions4 min
Read the chapter overview →
3User Interface4 topics · 16 min fast trackSecure UI code, Lightning Web Components, Visualforce, Aura, screen flows and Apex for components.
  1. 1Preventing Security Vulnerabilities in UI and Data Access4 min
  2. 2Lightning Web Components: Framework, Benefits and Events4 min
  3. 3Custom UI with Visualforce, Aura Components and Screen Flows4 min
  4. 4Apex for Lightning Components, Flow and Agentforce4 min
Read the chapter overview →
4Testing, Debugging, and Deployment4 topics · 17 min fast trackApex tests, test data, Salesforce DX and CLI, debug logs, async jobs and deployment.
  1. 1Testing Triggers, Classes, Controllers and Flows4 min
  2. 2Salesforce DX, the Salesforce CLI and the Developer Console4 min
  3. 3Debugging Flows, Performance and Asynchronous Jobs5 min
  4. 4Deployment Environments, Requirements and Process4 min
Read the chapter overview →

Ready for more practice?

The full Salesforce Platform Developer question bank has 645 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.

SubscribeTry Sample Exam

This study guide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Salesforce. Vendor names, certification names and exam codes are trademarks of their respective owners and are used for identification only.