App Builder Exam Update February 2021

The exam guide for the App Builder certification has been updated for the Winter 21 release. We regularly monitor the exam guide for changes and go to work to update our materials after analyzing the changes.

At first glance, it looks like there were many changes and if you have the exam scheduled soon, you may be wondering if your preparation will be sufficient. Although there were many updates to the sections and objectives, most of the objectives have stayed the same, were modified slightly or just moved to a different section. The main change is the consolidation of the sections, from 9 sections to 5. 

If you have been studying using the previous exam guide, the main points to focus on would be ensuring you have an understanding of the topics in the 2 new detailed objectives, keep in mind that the Social topic has been removed so you do not need to concentrate on that one. In terms of the modified objectives some topics have been added or emphasised, which we have marked in bold:

• Given a use case, demonstrate knowledge, viability, and troubleshooting when using change sets.
• Describe the use cases and considerations when using unmanaged and managed packages.
• Given a set of business requirements, recommend a solution to automate business processes while avoiding errors in automation.

Here are the details of what we have found:

The number of exam sections have been reduced from 9 to 5 and the exam weightings have also changed:

• Salesforce Fundamentals: 23% (previously was 8%)
• Data Modeling and Management: 22%  (previously was 20%)
• Business Logic and Process Automation: 28% (previously was 27%)
• User Interface: 17% (previously was 14%)
• App Development: 10% (previously was 8%)

The biggest change is the Salesforce Fundamentals section with the weighting increasing from 8% to 23%. It has also had the number of detailed objectives within the section increased from 3 to 7.

4 sections have been removed:

• Security
• Social
• Reporting
• Mobile

Although these 4 sections have been removed, with the exception of Social, the objectives and content from the other sections have been moved to another section. 

2 new detailed objectives have been added:

• Salesforce Fundamentals: Describe the customizations and use cases for Chatter.
• User Interface: Given a scenario, determine the declarative options available for incorporating Lightning Components in an application.

The updated exam guide consists of a total of 26 detailed objectives

• Salesforce Fundamentals – 7
• Data Modeling and Management – 5
• Business Logic and Process Automation – 6
• User Interface – 4
• App Development – 4

In Summary:

• 2 new detailed objectives
• 5 detailed objectives remained exactly the same
• 15 detailed objectives were modified, most with small modifications
• 4 detailed objectives were moved from a retired section to Salesforce Fundamentals
• 9 detailed objectives were merged or retired

We will be working on updating our materials as soon as we can, starting with adding the 2 new detailed objectives and updating objectives that have been merged or additional topics added. 

Martin Gessner

Martin Gessner is the Founder of Focus on Force.He has spent over 10 years working in various Salesforce roles including business analyst, project manager, consultant and solutions architect. Along the way he has earned twelve certifications, published “The Salesforce Career Playbook”, and helps Salesforce professionals learn more about Salesforce, develop their career and prepare for certifications.