A realistic eight-week plan at roughly 8-10 hours per week, for someone with an object-oriented programming background and limited Salesforce exposure. Sign up for a free Developer Edition org on day one and write real Apex and Lightning Web Components every week - the exam is multiple-choice, but most questions assume you can read code fluently, and that fluency only comes from writing it.
| Week | Focus | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Platform fundamentals: multitenancy, governor limits, data modelling (lookup vs master-detail, junction objects, external IDs), declarative vs programmatic | You can explain why governor limits exist and pick the right relationship type for a requirement |
| 2 | Apex fundamentals: classes, interfaces, collections (List, Set, Map), control flow, exception handling | You can write and run a small Apex class in your org |
| 3 | SOQL, SOSL and DML: queries, relationships in queries, upsert, transaction basics | You can query parent and child records and explain SOQL vs SOSL |
| 4 | Triggers and automation: trigger context, before vs after, bulkification, save order of execution, record-triggered flows and when to combine them with Apex | You can write a bulkified trigger and say when Flow is the better tool |
| 5 | Lightning Web Components: component structure, @wire, events, component communication | You can build an LWC that calls an @AuraEnabled Apex method |
| 6 | UI breadth: screen flows, Visualforce basics, UI security (CRUD/FLS in Apex), Agentforce for developers | You can explain how to enforce field-level security in Apex serving a UI |
| 7 | Testing, debugging, deployment: @isTest, Test.startTest/stopTest, assertions, System.runAs, Salesforce DX, CLI, sandboxes, change sets, debug logs | Your practice code has meaningful tests and you can describe a deployment path |
| 8 | Full review: the official certification-prep modules, timed practice, weak-area repair | You consistently score well on timed reviews across all four sections |
Final tips
Weight your time like the exam does: Process Automation and Logic (28%) and Developer Fundamentals (27%) together are over half the marks, and both are cheap to practise hands-on in a Developer Edition org. Do not skip the newer material - the current outline aligns to the Summer ‘25 Release and includes Agentforce (AI) topics as well as Flow and Lightning Web Components, so older Apex-and-Visualforce-only resources leave gaps. Trailhead’s official study trail and the four certification-prep modules are free and map directly to the outline. Book the exam through your Trailhead account once week 7’s checkpoint feels comfortable, and remember the annual free maintenance badge on Trailhead after you pass - missing it expires the certification. Avoid “exam dump” sites entirely: they breach the certification agreement you accept at every sitting, and they will not teach you the platform.