PL-400 cheat sheet
A one-page reference for the Microsoft Power Platform Developer exam: the format, how the domains are weighted, and the glossary terms for this exam.
Exam at a glance
Vendor
Microsoft
Level
Associate
Questions
60
Time
100 min
Mock pass mark
70%
Domains
6
Practice Qs
140
Code
PL-400
Domain weightings
How much of the exam each domain covers. Spend your study time in proportion — the heavier the domain, the more questions you'll see.
Key terms
- Microsoft Power Platform
- Microsoft Power Platform is the low-code suite comprising Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, and Copilot Studio built on Dataverse. PL-400 covers extending and developing solutions across the platform.
- Dataverse
- Microsoft Dataverse is the data platform underlying Power Platform, storing data in tables with a rich security and event model. PL-400 covers Dataverse plug-ins, the Web API, custom APIs, and business events.
- Plug-in
- A plug-in is custom .NET code that executes on Dataverse events within the event execution pipeline to implement server-side business logic. PL-400 covers developing, registering, and optimizing plug-ins.
- Event execution pipeline
- The event execution pipeline is the staged model (pre-validation, pre-operation, post-operation) in which Dataverse plug-ins run. PL-400 covers using the different pipeline stages and Pre/Post Images.
- Power Fx
- Power Fx is the low-code, Excel-like formula language used across Power Apps canvas apps and increasingly the wider platform. PL-400 covers implementing complex Power Fx formulas and functions.
- Canvas app
- A canvas app is a Power Apps app where the maker designs the UI freely on a canvas and binds it to data with Power Fx. PL-400 covers advanced canvas features, reusable component libraries, and performance optimization.
- PCF
- PCF (Power Apps component framework) lets developers build reusable code components with TypeScript and web technologies for canvas and model-driven apps. PL-400 covers the manifest, lifecycle events, and packaging a PCF component.
- Client API
- The Client API object model is the JavaScript API for adding client-side business logic to model-driven app forms and events. PL-400 covers client scripting that targets the Client API and the Dataverse Web API.
- Custom connector
- A custom connector is a wrapper around a REST API that makes it usable in Power Apps and Power Automate, defined with an OpenAPI definition. PL-400 covers creating custom connectors, authentication, and policy templates.
- Power Automate
- Power Automate is the Power Platform service for building automated cloud flows that orchestrate actions across connectors. PL-400 covers configuring cloud flows, complex expressions, error handling, and child flows.
- Web API
- The Dataverse Web API is a RESTful OData v4 endpoint for performing data and metadata operations against Dataverse. PL-400 covers performing operations with the Web API and the Organization service.
- Organization service
- The Organization service is the .NET SDK service interface for programmatic operations against Dataverse from server-side code. PL-400 covers performing operations and optimizing for bulk and concurrency with it.
- ALM
- ALM (application lifecycle management) in Power Platform manages solutions from development through deployment using solutions, environment variables, and pipelines. PL-400 covers solution layers, dependencies, and CI/CD with Build Tools.
- Solution
- A solution is the Power Platform container that packages components (tables, apps, flows, plug-ins) for transport between environments. PL-400 covers managing solution dependencies, layers, and pipelines.