Since May 2021 Appian has changed all certifications to be on the new certified developer format which is an all-new way of writing your Appian exams.
They have chosen examity as a vendor to facilitate examinations online & to maintain the integrity of the exam by conducting it in a proctored environment. That means there would be an external person monitoring your screen, webcam and microphone via zoom call for the duration of the exam. This is a very welcome change by Appian since fake practitioners with level 1 & level 2 certifications were becoming a common occurrence.
The cost of all new exams is $200. Practitioners who work with Appian partner organizations are receiving a 50% discount which is automatically applied when you register for exams using your company’s email account linked to community. You can pre-book your slots here.
New Question Types
Appian always used to have single-select or multi-select questions for all their exams. With the latest exams they have introduced two new question types in addition to that.
- Arranging in sequence type questions – You will be given a list of options regarding a topic and you will be asked to drag and drop to arrange them in a meaningful and logical sequence to complete this question.
2. Match the lists type questions – In this question type, you will be given a questions list and an answers list. You need to match what is the most suitable answer for each of the question. To match the lists answers can be used once, more than once or not at all. (it will be mentioned in the question).
How To Prepare Using This Blog Post?
I have shared all study topics for Appian associate, senior & lead developer exams. You will find a link with label “Learn” next to each topic which you can click to navigate to relevant Appian documentation and learn more about it.
Associate Developer (ACD101)
The associate developer is a perfect test of knowledge for Appian developers who have recently started on the Appian platform. Ideally, they have attended Appian instructor-led or online training and have some hands-on experience working on two or three training or client applications.
Appian developers who already have 2+ years of experience working on the platform, I can assure you that you don’t even need to study for the test. ACD101 has questions that you will be able to answer just with your practical work experience.
The previous level 1 exam used to be 90 questions to be answered in 60 minutes, so compared to that you will have a lot of time to complete since the associate developer exam only has a total of 60 questions to be answered in 60 minutes.
- Certification Name: Associate Developer
- Exam Number: ACD101
- Format: Single Choice, Multiple Choice, Match the lists, Sequence questions
- Exam Duration: 60 minutes
- Exam Cost: $200
- Number of Questions: 60
- Passing Score: 73%
Exam Topics (documentation to study each topic is linked):
- The Appian Platform –
- Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) –
- Understanding of the SDLC phases
- Roles & responsibilities
- Events/scrum ceremonies
- User story lifecycle
- Data Manipulation –
- Appian Process Modeling –
- Appian Interface Design –
- Appian Records –
- Appian Expression Rules –
Video Course
Practice Test
Take the associate developer practice test to check your exam readiness. This exam has 90 questions and 60 minutes duration. All questions are from the old Appian level 1 exam.
Senior Developer (ACD201)
Senior developers are independent and are able to configure a variety of Appian objects to convert complex business requirements into working pieces of functionality. They understand development best practices and are able to make design decisions, build, test, deploy and maintain Appian applications. They have a deep understanding of relational databases. They often troubleshoot and debug common issues and know how to locate more information if required.
They have hands-on experience on the admin console including DevOps, user management, health check reports etc. They have a comprehensive understanding of BPM concepts and know the common use cases and patterns that businesses use to automate their processes. Senior developers also mentor new Appian developers & stay up to date on the latest release functionality.
If you have been working on Appian for the past 3+ years and have developed a variety of applications including complex ones then you don’t need to study for this test, but it’s always good to revise the concepts you believe you might need more information on.
- Certification Name: Senior Developer
- Exam Number: ACD201
- Format: Single Choice, Multiple Choice, Match the lists, Sequence questions
- Exam Duration: 60 minutes
- Exam Cost: $200
- Number of Questions: 50
- Passing Score: 60%
Exam Topics (documentation to study each topic is linked):
- Platform Maintenance –
- Relational Databases –
- Designing and implementing complex data models according to business requirements
- Creating and maintaining DB objects such as triggers, views & stored procedures
- Creating efficient database structures – Learn
- Application Design & Management –
- Implementing application development best practices – Learn
- Deploying applications using compare and deploy, export/import, fixing common deployment issues – Learn
- Deploying plug-ins, using custom properties file, SQL deployments
- Read, transform, write relational data
- Visualize and create end-to-end applications using various design objects
- Ability to do convert business requirements into user stories
- Following user experience best practices – Learn
- Advanced Object Usage –
- Performance & Scalability –
- Ensuring performance while designing Appian objects
- Implementing and monitoring data management strategies like process instances archiving/deletion, document cleanups, old rule/version cleanups, test data cleanups etc. to maintain a clean and healthy environment – Learn
- Identify and fix user-facing performance issues
- Ability to design process models while keeping the server memory aspect in mind – Learn
- Perform database load testing, configuring automated testing tools such as Fitnesse, Cucumber, Selenium & JMeter and provide recommendations based on results – Learn, Learn
Video Course
- Advanced Appian Developer Course – Watch
Practice Test
Take the senior developer practice test to check your exam readiness.
Lead Developer (ACD301)
This one is NOT easy but that doesn’t mean you can’t work your way towards achieving the highest level of Appian certification. The lead developer exam replaces the Appian Level 3 credential. You don’t need to submit your applications for review or pass an interview with an architect from Appian corporation anymore. Just clearing this exam gives you the certification. Having passed both Appian Level 3 & Appian Lead Developer exams myself, I found latter more difficult than the “exam part” of Level 3 certification. You will need to prepare thoroughly on the topics listed below. Also, having experience working as Appian Lead developer or architect will give you the maximum benefit as you will already be exposed to many of the scenario-based questions that are asked in the exam.
This exam is created by experienced Appian tech leads & architects to ensure each question that’s asked makes you think thoroughly before answering. Focus is given to practical implementation rather than asking for pure theory. You will be tested on platform management, multi-application best practices, advanced relational databases, application load & concurrency, extending Appian, and project & resource management skills.
- Certification Name: Lead Developer
- Exam Number: ACD301
- Format: Single Choice, Multiple Choice, Match the lists, Sequence questions (all questions are scenario-based)
- Exam Duration: 90 minutes
- Exam Cost: $200
- Number of Questions: 45
- Passing Score: 54%
Exam Topics (documentation to study each topic is linked):
- Platform Management –
- Implementing advanced application which can be scaled horizontally and vertically – Learn
- Thorough understanding of DevOps features which include preparing, deploying and debugging issues with deployments – Learn, Learn
- Deep knowledge of Appian platform architecture and being able to recommend application strategies based on it – Learn
- Monitor and troubleshoot platform related issues – Learn, Learn
- Configuring, running & analyzing the health check reports – Learn, Learn
- Multiple-Application Best Practices –
- Evaluating and designing applications for consistency and reusability – Learn
- Ensuring parallel development best practices are followed so that developers don’t get blocked or overwrite each other’s changes
- Good understanding of platform enterprise architecture – Learn
- Design time management standard across the platform – Learn
- Implement all admin console settings – Learn
- Advanced Relational Databases –
- Analyze, execute, implement or improve new or existing database schemas – Learn, Learn
- Data migration between different systems or environments – Learn
- Use of EXPLAIN statements to improve the query execution plans
- Analyze, evaluate and troubleshoot high-volume database structures – Learn
- Implement advanced database features such as views, triggers, stored procedures, database connectivity, improving SQL query efficiency etc. – Learn
- Application Load & Concurrency –
- Extending Appian –
- Design and troubleshoot advanced integrations – Learn
- Create advanced web API to connect and communicate with external systems – Learn
- Strategize and optimize advanced document generation – Learn
- Differentiate and configure various authentication mechanisms like SAML, LDAP or Appian native authentication – Learn, Learn, Learn
- Evaluate and use existing plug-ins and recognize when to develop custom plug-ins for custom components, customer smart services, custom functions etc. – Learn
- Project & Resource Management –
- Ability to interpret client requirements and converting them into user stories or breaking them down into technical tasks for the development team
- Coordinate and lead activities which engage multiple teams to make decisions, extend or receive help and unblock development teams
- Thorough understanding of agile and scrum concepts such as ceremonies, sprints, capacity planning, user stories and ability to handle day-to-day project operations and scenarios – Learn
Practice Test
Take the lead developer practice test to check your exam readiness.
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