This is no April’s Fool joke. Yesterday, I finally passed the Salesforce Advanced Developer Multiple choice exam!!! It was my second attempt. The first attempt was 6 months ago, but I now know that I was not ready then, so it was a good thing that I did not pass.
Back then, I barely knew the material. I thought I knew it because I had memorized it, but that did not mean that I “understood it”. I am now happy to say that I “know” this stuff. I know it like I know the back of my hand. And, that is a VERY good thing, because I now wait to complete the next stage of the process…the dreaded programming assignment.
Unfortunately, I have to wait until the next limited registration period (which is not until June 2). But, I am confident that the skills I have acquired so far will not atrophy before then. If anything, they will just continue to improve.
So, how did I learn this stuff like the back of my hand? I did it by following EVERY suggestion on Forceprepare. I basically did all of the following:
- Obviously, I memorized all the notes I have posted on this site (but that was just the beginning and was not enough by itself to pass)
- I watched the entire re-broadcast of the 501 Dev Class (which I posted about here). I took additional notes from that and posted them to this site (still not enough to pass). UPDATE, sorry to say but Salesforce has since removed the re-broadcast links from the 501 class.
- I watched all of the 8 training videos on Pluralsight (which I posted about here)
- I watched at least a dozen or more videos from Dreamforce.
- I read countless blog articles from experts like Jeff Douglas, Matt Lacey, Bob Buzzard, etc
- I worked through all the code in Bob Buzzards latest book, The Visualforce Development Cookbook (which I reviewed here).
- I worked through ALL the Workbooks on DeveloperForce (they have been updated recently and they are REALLY GOOD).
- I read through the entire Developers Guide (and YES, I know it is LONG).
- The MOST important thing: I played with all the code on my Developer org (which is now packed with best practice code examples).
When I took the test yesterday, it was so easy to me. I could see through all the tricks they had put in. It seemed really obvious to me (which I think will make the programming assignment phase a breeze). Bring it on, I say. I just wish I could do it sooner.
saramorgan.net 
Congratulations!!
This is a great post Sara… I have been deferring the exam for a good 1 year now and your post has certainly motivated me to come out all gun blazing! 🙂
had a few queries on the Visualforce aspect which seems to be my Achilles heel, partly because I have not had much exposure on it. Do we have to memorize the VF components from developer guide? ANy pointers on this front will definitely help me to sail along.
Hi Manjunath,
The questions regarding the components were general in terms on how they were used. That being said, I would make sure I understood the following, since I saw questions about them both times that I took the exam. Also, these are things that tripped me up the first time, but that I got solid the second time.
1.) When and how to use the ActionStatus component. This one is important.
2.) Understand the difference between input and output components and when they should be used.
3.) You will be asked how to render the page as a pdf, so know that.
4.) You will be asked at least once (maybe twice) about the order of execution of a page and a trigger, so know that cold.
5.) Know how to use facets
6.) Know the difference between PageMessage, PageMessages, Message and Messages
7.) Understand about templating and when to use define, insert, composition
Good luck. You can do it. Let me know when you do 🙂
Hi Sara,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I tried the link for re-broadcast of Dev 501 but not able to ?
Unfortunately, Salesforce has removed those Dev501 links. They are in the process of coming out with new and better documentation and opted to remove the rebroadcasts in the meantime. Sorry about that.
Thanks so much for posting about your experience with this exam. This helped me prepare. I also blogged about my experience here.
http://www.decodingthecloud.com/?p=1