The Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate exam checks that you can do core data engineering work on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform: ingesting data, transforming it with Spark SQL or PySpark, building and scheduling pipelines, and applying governance. It is a common first Databricks certification, and a sensible one if your team already runs on Databricks.
Exam format at a glance
- Questions: 45 scored multiple-choice questions (the exam may also include unscored items).
- Time limit: 90 minutes.
- Registration fee: USD 200, plus applicable taxes.
- Delivery: online proctored or at a test center.
- Prerequisites: none formally required, but Databricks strongly recommends related training and hands-on experience.
- Validity: 2 years. To recertify, you take the current version of the exam.
What the exam covers
The current exam guide splits the content into five sections:
- Databricks Intelligence Platform (10%) — the platform's value, compute choices, and features that optimise data layout and query performance.
- Development and Ingestion (30%) — notebooks, Databricks Connect, Auto Loader sources and syntax, and debugging tools.
- Data Processing and Transformations (31%) — transforming data with Spark SQL and PySpark and building pipelines.
- Productionizing Data Pipelines (18%) — deploying, orchestrating and scheduling workloads with jobs.
- Data Governance and Quality (11%) — governance and data-quality controls, including Unity Catalog.
Development and ingestion plus processing and transformations make up over 60% of the exam. Those two sections are where hands-on time pays off most.
How to prepare
Get hands-on time in a workspace. This exam rewards people who have actually written the code. Ingest files with Auto Loader, write a few transformations in both SQL and PySpark, and schedule a multi-task job. Many questions are much easier once you have seen the behaviour yourself.
Learn the current product names. Databricks renames and consolidates features regularly. Study from the current exam guide rather than older blog posts, so the terminology matches what you see on the exam.
Know when to use which tool. Several questions ask you to pick the right approach for a scenario: streaming or batch, Auto Loader or a one-off load, a managed or an external table. Practise explaining why one option fits better.
Practise at exam pace. 45 questions in 90 minutes is about two minutes each. Timed practice helps you spot questions to flag and come back to.
Study resources from CertCraft
- Databricks Data Engineer Practice Tests
- Databricks Data Engineer Study Notes
- Databricks Data Engineer Quick Reference
- Databricks Data Engineer Exam Simulator
Exam details and section weightings change when Databricks revises the exam. Check the official certification page and current exam guide before registering. CertCraft Institute is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Databricks.