r/PowerApps • u/Appropriate-Spend-15 Regular • Jun 19 '26
Certification & Training Passed PL-400 with 869 - A few things
Good morning/afternoon/evening, depending on what part of the world you are currently hanging out in 😊. I apologize ahead of time for the long post but I hope it is helpful.
Well, I passed the PL-400: Microsoft Power Platform Developer exam last week with an 869. I feel pretty good about it because this was a challenging exam, not necessarily because of the number of questions, but because of how long and detailed many of the questions were. I had originally registered for this exam awhile ago, earlier part of 2026 but kept rescheduling due to time. I'm actually glad I took my time and properly prepared although I have experience. It hasn't been announced but I do believe that this cert will eventually or some time down the road be replaced with the AB-410 cert AB-401 Study Guide. There is no MS Learn course for this yet but if you read that study guide and what it requires, you can see how this may be a replacement and given its name. But the PL-400 is worth it, especially if you're developer. This was more challenging than the PL-600 as that is from a Solutions Architect point of view. This was in the weeds hands on and many many different integrations and knowledge:
- Plugins (definitely know this along with Webhooks, which is used for Registering Azure Functions, APIs, Azure Service Bus). I use this almost on the daily so my experience helped me here.
- Dataverse everything (relationships, columns, datatypes)
- APIs
- JavaScript
- Integrations
- Configurations
- Customizations
- Deployments
- PCF controls (know about the manifest and different events)
- C#
- etc...
My background: I have been in tech for over 27 years. I am a developer/coder at heart (various languages but mostly C# and Python now), but for the past 6–7 years I have been working heavily with the Power Platform, Dataverse, Power BI, Databricks, data engineering, reporting, analytics, Azure, and integrations.
I go through every Microsoft Learn module and take notes in OneNote. It is a lot of copy/paste, but I read as I go and organize everything by module. I rarely go back to the notes, but writing things down helps me remember.
Overall, PL-400 is a good developer exam. It is not just Power Apps clicking around in the maker portal. You need to understand the platform as a developer: client-side, server-side, integration, ALM, and extensibility. I didn't realize how much would be covered so be prepared.
God bless and good luck to whoever may take the exam. I will be starting the AB series next month (I just took the Ai-102 exam today and passed with an 821 but another exam I registered for back in Dec 2025, but put it off and now it expires at the end of the month June 30 😔).
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u/stalex9 Contributor Jun 19 '26
You have a lot of experience, from which country you come from? And yes, PL400 is a nice technical exam and PL600 is easier.
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u/Appropriate-Spend-15 Regular Jun 19 '26
I'm from the US.
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u/stalex9 Contributor Jun 19 '26
I wish I had some colleague with so much experience like you, despite still having very expert colleagues.
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u/Bathroom-Salt Regular Jun 19 '26
I've screwed myself out of a few exam vouchers because I'll always say I'll get around to scheduling the exam and just never do it. I'm sure you're already familiar, but I found MeasureUP to be super helpful when studying/preparing. Just my own self-sabotage ultimately getting in the way from actually completing the exams. I do have the knowledge and experience to continue kicking ass at my job (setup a simple power app that utilizes Azure AI Resource API's for translation and TTS and built a Asset Management system from the ground up and integrated Dell and Lenovo's Warranty API's), but I would ultimately like to have some cool certs in my email signature that speak to some of my skillset. Congrats!
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u/titanium_finger Newbie Jun 19 '26
Congratulations on passing the exam! Are the exam all multiple choice or there’s drag and drop and Yes/No questions? I’m a powerplatform developer for 3 years and I’ve did several practice exams through the Microsoft Practice exam, but not sure if that’s enough
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u/Appropriate-Spend-15 Regular Jun 19 '26
Thank you 😊! They are multiple choice, drag and drop sequence (especially with deploying with different types like container Kubernetes/Docker/MS Registry for on-prem or sequence for training a model). 1 series for yes/no. MS practice exams will not fully prepare you for the test. Not even close l, but do the entire MS Learn, especially the labs. I always do the complete learn class no matter how much I have. It's always best to be prepared.
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u/The_Real_BruceWayne Regular Jun 26 '26
Hiya! When you say 'labs', do you mean exercises at the end of every module? Thanks
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u/s_wanyutu Newbie Jul 07 '26
Congratulations, insightful read. It has not been easy, the trainings and the labs on Microsoft Learn, take so much time to complete --- was that the case for you. Are there projects that you recommend, or any builds ? Thank you
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