About this Salesforce Certified Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect study guide
This page is your Salesforce Certified Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect study guide. The certification validates skills that employers look for in Salesforce roles—whether you're an administrator, consultant, developer, or architect. It is designed for architects and solution designers who want to prove their knowledge with an industry-recognized credential.
Here you'll find section-wise exam weightage so you know exactly which topics carry the most questions, exam tips and prerequisites, a focused study plan, and sample practice questions with detailed explanations. All content on this page is original and unique—written specifically for this certification to help with both your preparation and search engine indexing. Use this page to align your study with the official outline and to gauge when you're ready to sit the exam. Many candidates use section weightage to prioritize high-value topics and practice questions to build exam-day confidence.
Passing this certification can support career progression, higher earning potential, and recognition in the Salesforce ecosystem. Salesforce exams are updated periodically, so we keep our materials aligned with current objectives.
Last reviewed: January 2025. Salesforce exam outlines may change; always check the official exam guide on Trailhead before booking.
Release compatible: Winter '26 — Study materials and objectives are aligned with the Winter '26 release (compared to Summer '25).
What's new in Winter '26:
- Agentforce and AI: New Agentforce for Service (IT Service), Agentic Commerce, and Agentforce Grid for low-code AI workflows—expect more AI-related objectives on Admin and Consultant exams.
- Data Cloud: Clean Rooms for privacy-safe data collaboration and zero-copy analytics; Data Cloud objectives may include new collaboration and governance topics.
- Automation & Platform: Enhanced automation capabilities and platform updates; Flow, Process Builder, and integration topics remain core—check the official outline for weightage changes.
- Tableau & Analytics: Tableau Next Concierge in Slack and conversational analytics; Tableau certs may reference new Slack and natural-language features.
- Security & Access: Continued focus on identity, access management, and secure data handling; relevant for Administrator and Architect tracks.
Salesforce Certified Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect Study Guide
Certified Platform Development Lifecycle and Deployment Architects are experts at assessing architecture environments and requirements in order to implement management solutions on the Salesforce Platform.
Exam Weightage by Section
Exam Topics
Exam Tips
- 1CI/CD and Version Control is 30%—know Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment strategies.
- 2Understand release management: sandboxes, change sets, unlocked packages, source tracking.
- 3Know environments and metadata: what goes where, and governance.
- 4Be ready for "how would you deploy X?" and "what is the best approach?" questions.
Prerequisites
- •Application Architect
- •System Architect
- •DevOps and deployment experience
Focus Areas
- •Release Management
- •Environments and Metadata
- •CI/CD and Version Control
- •Governance
Study Strategy
Set up a CI/CD pipeline. Practice deploying with different methods. Understand governance and best practices for enterprise deployments.
Sample Practice Questions
Test your knowledge with these sample questions.
What is the primary focus of a Development Lifecycle and Deployment Architect?
Which tool is used for source-driven deployments in Salesforce?
What is the purpose of Change Sets?
Which environment is typically used for production-like testing?
What does CI/CD mean in the context of Salesforce deployment?
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Contact Us for Full AccessFrequently Asked Questions
- What is covered on the Salesforce Certified Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect exam?
- This page shows the section-wise exam weightage so you know exactly which topics carry the most weight. Use the exam topics and practice questions above to align your study with the official outline.
- What is Development Lifecycle and Deployment Architect?
- Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect designs deployment strategies, CI/CD pipelines, release management, and ensures proper governance for Salesforce deployments.
- Do I need Application Architect before Dev Lifecycle Architect?
- Yes, Application Architect and System Architect are typically required. Dev Lifecycle Architect requires deep understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, and deployment.
- How do I prepare for the Salesforce Certified Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect certification?
- Use the exam tips, prerequisites, and study strategy on this page. Focus first on the highest-weighted sections, then take the sample practice questions. Schedule the exam when you consistently score well on practice tests.
- Where can I find the official exam outline for Salesforce Certified Dev Lifecycle and Deployment Architect?
- Salesforce publishes exam guides and outlines on Trailhead (trailhead.salesforce.com). This page's section weightage and topics are aligned with those outlines to help you prepare.