For candidates preparing to become a developer, it is important to create a clear pathway to proceed with their career. And, for this, Microsoft has offers a great resource and correct pathway to achieve your goals. However, with technology getting upgraded year by year there has been a rapid evolvement in the IT industry. As a result, Microsoft is updating its exam as per the industry standards. Related to this, Microsoft came up with the Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) exam. This is the new Microsoft exam that has replaced Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer (MB-400). This exam is the key to get into the development field and become Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Developer Associate.
Here, we will cover each and every detail related to the new PL-400 Certification Exam. What is new in the exam? Who can take the exam? And ways to prepare for the Microsoft PL-400 exam, all these questions and other doubts will be cleared by the end of this blog. So, without wasting any time let’s get started with the PL-400 Exam overview.
Microsoft Exam PL-400: Exam Overview
Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) exam is perfect for candidates with knowledge about:
- Firstly, designing, developing, securing, and troubleshooting Power Platform solutions.
- Secondly, implementing components of a solution. This further includes application enhancements, custom user experience, system integrations as well as data conversions, and custom visualizations.
The next thing that comes to mind is that “Is the PL-400 exam suitable for you? “
To find a solution to this question, the first answer, Do you have skills for developing, securing, and troubleshooting Microsoft Power Platform solutions? Or you have the ability to implement components of the solution? If Yes then, the PL-400 exam can help you build and validate your skills. Else, check out the knowledge required for the exam below to get a better understanding!
Knowledge Requirement
- Firstly, you must have advanced knowledge of Power Platform services with an in-depth understanding of capabilities, boundaries, and constraints.
- Secondly, you should have a basic understanding of DevOps practices for Power Platform.
- Next, you need to have development experience that includes Power Platform services, JavaScript, JSON, TypeScript, C#, HTML, .NET, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, RESTful web services, ASP.NET, and Microsoft Power BI.
Certification Exam Updates
The MB-400 exam expired on December 31, 2020. And, Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) is the new replacement. However, if you passed Exam MB-400 before it retired and earned the associated certification. Then, Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer Associate certification will remain valid for two years.
Microsoft PL-400: Exam Details
For every certification exam, it is important to have all the necessary details which you don’t want to miss for sure. That is to say, exam details help you in getting an understanding of the exam procedure and pattern.
For Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) details include:
- Firstly, the Microsoft PL-400 exam is an associate-level exam. After passing the exam, you will become Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Developer Associate.
- Secondly, the Microsoft PL-400 passing score is 700 or more.
- Lastly, the exam is available in the English language. And, the cost for the PL-400 exam is $165 USD along with the additional taxes.
Microsoft PL-400: Course Structure
We know that the PL-400 exam is a replacement for the MB-400 Exam. And, it is important to understand the major changes in the exam. The best way to get clarity is to go through the exam topics. Moreover, this course structure works as a Microsoft PL-400 exam study guide. So, check this to understand about the concepts.
The Microsoft PL-400 exam topics include:
Create a technical design (10-15%)
Design technical architecture
- Design the technical architecture for a solution
- Design authentication and authorization strategy
- Determine whether requirements can be met with out-of-the-box functionality
- Determine when to use Logic Apps versus Microsoft Power Automate cloud flows
- Determine when to use serverless computing, plug-ins, or Power Automate
- Determine when to use standard tables, virtual tables, or connectors
- Describe security capabilities of the Microsoft Power Platform including data loss prevention (DLP) policies, security roles, teams, business units and row sharing
Design solution components
- Design a Microsoft Dataverse data model
- Design Power Apps reusable components including canvas components, code components, and client scripting
- Design custom connectors
- Design Dataverse code components including plug-ins and Custom APIs
- Design automations including Power Automate cloud flows and real-time workflows
- Design Azure inbound and outbound integrations
Configure Microsoft Dataverse (15–20%)
Configure Microsoft Power Platform to support development
- Troubleshoot operational security issues found in testing
- Configure Dataverse security roles and column-level security profiles
- Configure business units and teams
- Manage Microsoft Power Platform environments for development
Configure tables
Implement application lifecycle management (ALM)
- Create solutions and manage solution components
- Import and export solutions
- Manage solution dependencies
- Create and use environment variables
- Describe the difference between unmanaged and managed solutions
- Manage solution layers
Create and configure Power Apps (10–15%)
Create model-driven apps
- Create and configure a model-driven app
- Configure forms
- Configure views
- Configure commands and buttons using Power Fx
- Configure commands and buttons using JavaScript
Create canvas apps
- Create and configure a canvas app or a custom page
- Implement complex Power Fx formulas
- Build reusable component libraries
- Test an app by using Power Apps Test Studio
- Utilize Power Automate cloud flows to implement business logic from a canvas app
Manage and troubleshoot apps
- Troubleshoot canvas and model-driven app issues by using Monitor and other browser-based debugging tools
- Identify and resolve connector and API errors
- Optimize canvas app performance including pre-loading data and query delegation
- Optimize model-driven app performance including forms and views
Extend the user experience (10–15%)
Apply business logic using client scripting
- Create JavaScript code that targets the Client API object model
- Describe event handler registration options
- Create client scripting that targets the Dataverse Web API
- Describe the client API object model
- Determine when to use business rules or client scripting
Create a Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) code component
- Describe the code component lifecycle
- Initialize a new code component
- Configure a code component manifest
- Implement component interfaces
- Package, deploy, and consume a component
- Configure and use Device, Utility, and Web API features in component logic
Extend the platform (35–40%)
Create a Dataverse plug-in
- Describe the plug-in execution pipeline
- Describe the plug-in execution context
- Develop a plug-in that implements business logic
- Implement Pre Images and Post Images to support plug-in logic
- Perform operations in plug-ins by using the Organization service
- Optimize plug-in performance
- Configure a Dataverse Custom API message
- Register custom assemblies by using the Plug-in Registration Tool
- Develop a plug-in that implements a Custom API
Create custom connectors
- Create an Open API definition for a REST API
- Configure API security
- Use policy templates to modify connector behavior at runtime
- Import definitions from existing APIs including Open API definitions, Azure services, and GitHub
- Create a custom connector for an Azure service
- Create an Azure Function to be used in a custom connector
- Extend an Open API definition for a custom connector
Use platform APIs
- Perform operations with the Dataverse Web API
- Perform operations with the Organization service
- Implement API limit retry policies
- Optimize for performance, concurrency, transactions, and batching
- Perform authentication by using OAuth
Process workloads by using Azure Functions
- Process long-running operations by using Azure Functions
- Configure scheduled and event-driven triggers in Azure Functions
- Authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform by using managed identities
Configure Power Automate cloud flows
- Create and manage cloud flows
- Configure flow steps to use Dataverse connector actions and triggers
- Implement complex expressions in flow steps
- Manage sensitive input and output parameters
- Implement Azure Key Vault and Microsoft Entra ID service principals
- Describe flow control actions including error handling
- Add a cloud flow step to a business process flow
- Configure trigger filter and retry policies
Develop integrations (5–10%)
Publish and consume Dataverse events
- Publish a Dataverse event by using the IServiceEndpointNotificationService
- Publish a Dataverse event by using the Plug-in Registration Tool
- Register service endpoints including webhooks, Azure Service Bus, and Azure Event Hub
- Describe options for listening to Dataverse events
Implement data synchronization with Dataverse
- Describe synchronizing data by using change tracking
- Read table change records by using platform APIs
- Create and use alternate keys
- Use the UpsertRequest message to synchronize data
Now, we have almost covered all the necessary details and topics related to the Microsoft PL-400 certification exam. In the next section, we will be more talking about the various learning resources and methods that will help you in your journey to pass the exam.
Microsoft PL-400 Exam Learning Path
In order to help you understand and learn more about the Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) exam. Microsoft provides its PL-400 learning path that is categorized into modules containing all necessary information. For the Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) exam this includes:
- Firstly, creating a canvas app in Power Apps
- Creating a model-driven application in Power Apps
- Then, working with Power Platform tenants, environments, subscriptions, and dynamics 365 apps
- Automating a business process using Power Automate
- Next, creating and using analytics reports with Power BI
- Integrating with Power Platform and Dataverse
- Creating components with Power Apps Component Framework
- After that, administering Power Apps portals
- Lastly, extending Power Apps portals
You must know that, according to a salary survey, 61 percent of responders believe that this certification provides an edge in the job market. On the other hand, 73 percent of permanent employees reported that their salary increased after this certification.
Microsoft Additional Resources
Microsoft helps you find all the information and provide resources to help you have better preparation for the exam. Related to this, Microsoft provides two knowledge source that is:
- Microsoft Documentation
- Instructor-led Training
Where Microsoft Documentation helps you easily understand the concepts and modules related to the PL-400 exam. Further, it allows you to navigate topics you want to learn about. On the other hand, Microsoft provides Microsoft Power Platform Developer Instructor-led training course to help you build Power Apps, Automate Flows and extend the platform to complete business requirements and solve complex business problems. Here in this course, you will gain knowledge of Power Platform services as well as a good understanding of capabilities, boundaries, constraints, and more.
Moving onto the important part that is Practice tests. To get perfection in all the concepts it is important to use practice tests and assess yourself. So, let’s take a look at it.
Microsoft PL-400 Exam: Practice tests
Practice tests are important for having better preparation. Hence, evaluating yourself through these tests reveals your areas of strength and weakness. However, it’s crucial to obtain the most reliable practice tests. Numerous sources offer practice tests, but for optimal results, opt for PL-400 free practice tests. These prioritize the quality of learning over the quantity. Additionally, the practice tests from Testprep Training offer a thorough review of your performance, highlighting both strengths and weak areas. With a comprehensive learning package, Microsoft PL-400 Exam Testprep Training also provides you with:
- Firstly, full-length mock exams with 150 unique questions.
- Secondly, objective-based questions based on the exam course outline.
- Thirdly, detailed explanation for every question.
- Lastly, lifetime access to the practice tests.
Expert’s Corner
Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400) exam can be a perfect career path for professional developers with an aim to extend Microsoft Power Platform capabilities. Whether to increase the level of your skills or to getting advancement in the same, this certification will open tons of opportunities to have a bright career. Further, to help you in your journey to becoming Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Developer Associate. You can use various valuable resources, PL-400 exam training as well as practice tests to clear the exam. At last, you must know that demand for people trained in Microsoft Power Platform is growing. So, start preparing well for the exam.
