Databricks · DB-DEP · Professional
Databricks Data Engineer Professional — Practice Questions and Mock Exam
Practice real DB-DEP questions, never dumps. Alex explains every answer, and your readiness score tells you when you're ready to pass.
Checked against Databricks · April 2026Current exam version
Overview
About the exam
The Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional exam targets experienced engineers who build and optimize production data systems on the Databricks Lakehouse Platform. It covers advanced pipeline design, performance tuning, cost optimization, security, governance, and CI/CD deployment patterns. The exam expects deep familiarity with Delta Lake internals, Unity Catalog governance, and Spark performance characteristics.
Exam Domains
What's on the exam
The exam consists of 59 scored multiple-choice questions to be completed in 120 minutes. No test aids are allowed. Unscored pilot questions may appear. The exam is delivered online or at a Pearson VUE test center. Databricks does not publish an official passing score. The displayed score is a conservative estimate based on industry standards.
Advanced Python and SQL for data processing, complex transformations, custom functions, and coding best practices on Databricks.
Advanced ingestion patterns, schema evolution, data acquisition from diverse sources, and handling complex data formats.
Advanced data quality frameworks, expectations, cleansing strategies, and complex transformation patterns.
Delta Sharing, cross-workspace data access, data federation patterns, and external data integration.
Pipeline monitoring, alerting strategies, logging, observability, and troubleshooting production data workflows.
Spark performance tuning, cluster sizing, Liquid Clustering, Z-ordering, caching strategies, and cost management.
Data encryption, access controls, audit logging, compliance frameworks, and security best practices on Databricks.
Unity Catalog advanced features, data lineage, tagging, classification, and governance policies.
CI/CD for data pipelines, Databricks Asset Bundles, testing strategies, debugging techniques, and deployment automation.
Medallion architecture design, dimensional modeling, slowly changing dimensions, and data modeling best practices for lakehouses.
SourceDatabricks exam page
Format
What to expect
Watch out
Where candidates struggle
This is a significantly harder exam than the Associate level. Performance optimization questions require understanding Spark internals, not just API usage. Know Liquid Clustering vs Z-ordering trade-offs, understand Databricks Asset Bundles for CI/CD, and be prepared for scenario-based questions about debugging failed pipelines. The Data Sharing and Federation section is small but tests Delta Sharing specifics that many candidates overlook.
Details
Exam logistics
Registration fee is $200 USD. Available in English, Japanese, Portuguese (BR), and Korean. No prerequisites required, though 1+ years of experience is recommended. Certification is valid for 2 years.
SourceDatabricks exam page
Before you book the exam
Would you pass DB-DEP today?
Take the free readiness check. Answer real DB-DEP questions and get your readiness score across every domain.
Take the free readiness check20 questions · freeReach 80% readiness by exam day. Pass, or your money back.