Magento 2 Certified Associate Developer certification video training course by prepaway along with practice test questions and answers, study guide and exam dumps provides the ultimate training package to help you pass.

Magento 2 Associate Developer Certification Practice Exam

Introduction

The Magento 2 Certified Associate Developer exam is designed to validate essential skills required for working with Magento 2. This course provides a structured path for developers who want to master the foundations of Magento 2 development and prepare with confidence for the certification exam. The goal is to make the learning journey simple, clear, and practical.

Why This Certification Matters

The Magento 2 Certified Associate Developer certification demonstrates a developer’s ability to understand core architecture, apply Magento coding standards, and customize modules. Holding this certification adds credibility to your skills and opens opportunities in agencies, e-commerce companies, and freelance markets. It ensures you can confidently work with Magento in professional projects.

Course Philosophy

This course is designed to balance theory with practice. Each module includes explanations of Magento concepts followed by real-world use cases. The focus is not only on passing the exam but also on developing strong skills that can be applied in real projects. The learning process is step by step, starting from the basics and gradually moving into advanced areas.

Course Structure

Five-Part Approach

The training is divided into five parts, each covering a major area of knowledge. This first part introduces the course framework, outlines requirements, and defines the skills you will build. The following parts move into Magento architecture, request flow, database, UI development, and advanced module development. By the end, you will have complete preparation for the exam.

Module Organization

Each module is designed with clarity in mind. It begins with a short overview of the topic, then provides focused lessons with code examples, and ends with exam-style practice questions. The structure encourages both understanding and retention.

Learning Flow

You will start with fundamentals such as Magento installation, basic CLI commands, and code structure. Then you will progress into configuration, dependency injection, event systems, and layouts. Later sections focus on database design, UI components, and customizations. This gradual build-up ensures you never feel lost.

Course Requirements

Technical Skills Needed

A learner should have a working knowledge of PHP and object-oriented programming. Familiarity with MySQL and basic front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript will also help. If you have experience in building small web applications, you will adapt quickly to Magento’s ecosystem.

System Requirements

To follow the course, you should set up a development environment. This includes PHP 7.4 or above, MySQL, Composer, and a local server such as Apache or Nginx. You should install Magento Open Source 2.4.x for practice. A code editor like PhpStorm or VS Code is also recommended.

Time Commitment

Learners should expect to dedicate several hours each week to study and practice. Consistent practice is crucial for building confidence and passing the exam. By engaging with both the lessons and exercises, you will be ready within a structured timeline.

Course Description

Learning Goals

The primary goal of this course is to prepare you thoroughly for the Magento 2 Certified Associate Developer exam. Beyond exam preparation, the course also aims to strengthen your ability to build, customize, and maintain Magento 2 projects in real environments.

Skills You Will Gain

You will gain an understanding of Magento architecture, learn to create and modify modules, use dependency injection, work with event and plugin systems, manage database schema, and build UI components. Each of these skills is mapped to the certification objectives.

Exam Alignment

The course content is carefully aligned with the Magento exam guide. Every lesson is tailored to address one or more areas tested in the certification, ensuring no gaps in your preparation. Practice scenarios and questions mirror the exam format to give you a realistic preparation experience.

Who This Course Is For

New Magento Developers

If you are just starting your journey with Magento, this course provides a structured and supportive learning path. It ensures you understand the fundamentals and builds your skills gradually.

PHP Developers Transitioning to Magento

For PHP developers who are moving into Magento projects, this course acts as a bridge. It connects your existing knowledge of PHP and object-oriented concepts with Magento’s specific framework and standards.

Professionals Seeking Certification

If your primary goal is to pass the certification exam, this course ensures you have every area covered. It gives you both the knowledge and the exam strategies needed to succeed.

Freelancers and Agency Developers

For freelancers working on e-commerce projects or developers employed at agencies, this course strengthens your ability to deliver professional solutions. Certification also boosts credibility with clients and employers.

Introduction to Magento Architecture

Magento 2 is built as a modular and extensible e-commerce platform that follows modern PHP development practices. Its architecture is based on object-oriented programming, MVC patterns, and service contracts. The system is designed to allow developers to customize features without touching the core code. This flexibility is achieved through modules, dependency injection, and a layered architecture. Understanding these concepts is essential for certification because many exam questions test your ability to explain and apply the architecture in practical situations.

The Layered Architecture

Magento 2 organizes its system into layers. The Presentation Layer handles layouts, templates, and UI components. The Service Layer contains APIs and service contracts that connect business logic with the presentation. The Domain Layer manages entities such as products, customers, and orders. The Persistence Layer interacts with the database and provides models and resource models. This layered approach ensures that changes in one part of the system do not break another. As a developer, you must understand how these layers work together and where to place your customizations.

The Role of Modules

Every functional unit in Magento 2 is packaged as a module. A module is a self-contained package that provides specific functionality such as catalog management, checkout, or customer accounts. Modules are registered in the system through the module.xml file and controlled by the app/code or vendor directories. Developers can create custom modules to extend or modify functionality. For the exam, you must understand the module structure, registration process, and how Magento discovers and loads modules during the bootstrap sequence.

The Request Flow in Magento 2

When a user accesses a Magento page, the request passes through several layers before reaching the response. First, the request enters the front controller, which is responsible for directing it to the correct router. The router identifies the module and controller that should handle the request. The controller then processes the request with the help of models and service contracts, and finally renders a response using layouts and templates. This entire flow ensures that every request is handled consistently and extensibly.

Front Controller and Routing

The front controller acts as a gateway to all Magento requests. It checks routing information and delegates the request to the appropriate controller. Routing in Magento 2 is defined in routes.xml files located in the etc/frontend or etc/adminhtml directories. Each route specifies a front name, which maps to a module’s controller and action. Controllers are PHP classes that extend Magento’s Action class and handle the logic for specific routes. For certification, you must understand how routing is configured and how to create custom routes for frontend and admin panels.

Controllers and Actions

Controllers are central to request handling. Each controller contains action methods that correspond to specific pages or actions within a module. For example, a Product controller may have actions for viewing, editing, or saving products. Controllers usually interact with models to process data and then call view components to generate output. Developers often create new controllers when adding features or override existing ones when customizing functionality. The exam may test your knowledge of controller structure, naming conventions, and how controllers fit into the overall request flow.

Dependency Injection in Magento 2

Magento 2 uses dependency injection to manage class dependencies. Instead of instantiating classes directly within your code, Magento injects them through the constructor. This design pattern ensures that code is more flexible, testable, and maintainable. Dependency injection is configured using di.xml files, which map interfaces to specific implementations. For example, you can configure Magento to use a custom class for a given interface without changing the original code. This system is critical for extensibility, and the exam will include questions about di.xml, preference, type, and virtual types.

Plugins and Interceptors

Magento allows developers to extend or modify class behavior using plugins. A plugin is an interceptor that runs before, after, or around a public method of a class. This is part of the interception system, which provides a clean way to extend functionality without overriding core files. For instance, you can use a plugin to log data before an order is saved or to alter the result after a product is loaded. The exam may ask you to identify when to use a plugin versus an observer and to describe the lifecycle of before, after, and around methods.

Events and Observers

Events and observers provide another way to extend Magento functionality. Magento dispatches events at specific points during execution, such as after an order is placed or when a product is saved. Observers are classes that listen to these events and perform custom actions. Events are defined in event.xml files, and observers implement the logic. This system allows developers to inject behavior into the application without altering the core code. On the exam, you should understand how to declare an event, create an observer, and know the difference between global and area-specific event configurations.

Layouts and Blocks

Layouts and blocks are part of the presentation layer in Magento 2. Layout XML files define the structure of a page, specifying which blocks and templates should be used. Blocks are PHP classes that prepare data for templates and provide methods for rendering content. Templates are PHTML files that contain HTML and PHP to generate output. Developers often use layout updates to add, remove, or move elements on a page. The exam will test your ability to work with layout XML files, blocks, and templates to create custom page designs.

View Models and UI Components

View models provide a clean way to pass data from PHP classes to templates without overloading blocks. They follow a separation of concerns principle and encourage reusable code. UI components are another important feature in Magento 2. They are XML-driven elements that define dynamic parts of the user interface such as grids, forms, and filters. UI components use Knockout.js for frontend interactivity and are widely used in the admin panel. For the exam, you must know how to configure UI components, bind them with data sources, and use view models effectively.

Database Models and Resource Models

Magento uses models and resource models to handle database interactions. A model represents an entity, such as a product or customer, while a resource model handles the actual database queries. Collections are used to load multiple entities at once. Developers often create custom models and resource models when building modules. This system abstracts database logic and ensures that developers do not need to write raw SQL for most tasks. The exam requires you to understand the relationship between models, resource models, and collections, and how to use them properly.

The Role of Service Contracts

Service contracts define a formal API between modules. They are made up of PHP interfaces that declare methods for interacting with Magento entities. These contracts are used by both the frontend and backend systems, ensuring a consistent way of handling data. Service contracts make it easier to upgrade Magento and maintain backward compatibility. They also play a key role in web APIs, allowing external systems to communicate with Magento. You must be familiar with repositories, data interfaces, and service contracts for the exam.

Caching and Indexing

Performance in Magento relies heavily on caching and indexing. Caching stores pre-generated data such as HTML blocks to reduce processing time for future requests. Magento supports different cache types, including block cache, full-page cache, and configuration cache. Indexing, on the other hand, improves performance by preparing data structures in advance. For example, product prices are indexed so they can be retrieved quickly on the storefront. Developers must know how to work with cache and indexers, as this is often tested in the exam.

Magento CLI and Setup Process

The Magento command-line interface (CLI) is a powerful tool for developers. It allows you to install modules, run setup scripts, clear cache, reindex data, and deploy static content. Many tasks that were manual in Magento 1 are now automated with the CLI in Magento 2. The setup process for a module often includes defining schema, data patches, and configuration files. The exam may ask you to identify CLI commands, explain setup scripts, and describe how Magento initializes modules during setup.

Request Lifecycle Recap

To recap the request lifecycle, a request starts with the front controller, which uses routers to determine the correct controller. The controller uses models, service contracts, and other classes to process the request. Layouts, blocks, and templates are then used to render the output. During this process, dependency injection, events, and plugins may modify behavior. Finally, caching and indexing ensure that performance is optimized. This complete lifecycle is at the heart of Magento 2 development.

Best Practices in Magento Architecture

Magento follows strict coding standards to ensure maintainability. Developers should always use dependency injection instead of object instantiation. Plugins should be preferred over class overrides. Events should be used for extensibility, but not for replacing business logic entirely. Database queries should always go through resource models and collections. By following these best practices, you ensure your code is upgrade-safe and reliable. These principles are also emphasized in the exam.

Understanding Magento 2 Request Flow

Every request in Magento 2 starts with the front controller. The front controller decides which module and controller should handle the request. After the controller is identified, the action class executes the business logic. This request flow ensures a consistent structure for handling storefront and admin requests.
A developer must understand that routers are responsible for directing requests. Each router is registered by modules, and depending on the configuration, the correct controller is chosen. Knowing how to trace a request from the entry point to the controller is essential for solving certification-level problems.

Dependency Injection in Magento 2

Magento 2 relies heavily on dependency injection to manage classes and objects. Instead of manually creating instances, dependencies are injected through the constructor. This promotes loose coupling and makes code easier to maintain.
The di.xml configuration file plays a central role in defining preferences and types. Preferences allow developers to substitute one class for another without altering the original code. Types configuration allows customization of object instantiation. Understanding constructor injection, virtual types, and proxies is vital for both development and exam preparation.

Working with Factories and Proxies

When objects cannot be injected directly, Magento uses factories. A factory class allows developers to create objects dynamically at runtime. Factories are automatically generated by the Magento code generator, reducing manual work.
Proxies are lightweight classes that act as placeholders for heavier objects. They are only instantiated when needed. This improves performance by reducing unnecessary object creation. Knowing when to use a factory versus a proxy is a common topic in the exam.

The Role of Plugins in Extensibility

Plugins, also known as interceptors, are one of the most powerful ways to extend Magento functionality without modifying core code. Plugins allow developers to run code before, after, or around a public method.
Before methods run before the original method, after methods run after, and around methods wrap the original method. Correct use of plugins ensures that business logic can be extended safely. However, developers must be cautious because excessive plugin use can create conflicts.
For the exam, you need to recognize when to use a plugin versus when to use other extension mechanisms like observers or preferences.

Events and Observers in Magento 2

Magento 2 uses an event-driven architecture that allows modules to react to system events. Events are dispatched throughout the application. Observers listen for these events and perform custom actions.
The events.xml configuration file defines observers for specific events. For example, an event is triggered when a product is saved, and a module can observe this event to perform additional logic.
Certification questions often test whether you understand the correct scenarios for using events and how they differ from plugins.

Layout XML and Page Structure

Magento 2 layouts define the structure of a page. Layout XML files specify which blocks and containers should appear on a page and where they should be placed. A container is a structural element that groups blocks, while blocks are PHP classes that provide data and rendering logic.
Understanding how layout handles work is crucial. A handle represents a specific page or situation, such as catalog_product_view for product pages. Developers can use layout XML to add, remove, or modify blocks for specific handles.
The exam expects you to understand how layout inheritance works and how changes cascade from default layouts to specific handles.

Templates and Block Interaction

Templates in Magento 2 are .phtml files that control the presentation layer. These templates are associated with blocks. Blocks provide data to templates, and templates render this data as HTML.
Developers must avoid placing business logic in templates. Instead, business logic should remain in blocks or models, while templates only handle display. Understanding this separation of concerns is often tested in certification scenarios.

The Role of View Models

Magento 2 introduced View Models to provide a cleaner way of passing data to templates. View Models act as lightweight data providers. They help reduce the amount of logic inside blocks and promote a cleaner separation between business logic and presentation.
Knowing when to use View Models instead of blocks is a valuable skill. Certification questions may ask you to identify the best way to structure data for templates.

Frontend Assets in Magento 2

Magento 2 uses a combination of CSS, LESS, and JavaScript for frontend design. Developers can customize themes by overriding styles, templates, and layouts. The requirejs-config.js file manages JavaScript module loading.
Static content deployment generates the necessary static files for production environments. Understanding how to work with static assets and how to override them properly is essential for the certification exam.

Working with Database Schema

Magento 2 modules can define their own database schema using declarative schema files. These XML files describe tables, columns, indexes, and constraints. Declarative schema makes it easier to maintain databases across versions.
Data patches are used to insert or update data during module installation or upgrade. Schema patches modify database structure, while data patches modify content. For the exam, you need to know the difference and understand the correct usage of each.

Repositories and Service Contracts

Magento 2 promotes the use of service contracts for interaction with business logic. Service contracts define interfaces for repositories and data models. This ensures a stable API for modules and extensions.
Repositories provide a standardized way of accessing entities like products and customers. Developers should avoid directly accessing models and instead use repositories for CRUD operations. Understanding service contracts is a key exam requirement.

API Development in Magento 2

Magento 2 provides robust support for APIs. Both REST and GraphQL are available for communication with external systems. Service contracts automatically expose methods to APIs when configured properly.
Authentication and authorization are managed through OAuth and access tokens. For the certification exam, you must know how to configure and consume Magento APIs and how service contracts tie into the API layer.

Testing in Magento 2

Testing is an integral part of Magento 2 development. Magento supports several types of tests, including unit tests, integration tests, and functional tests. Unit tests validate individual classes, integration tests validate interactions between components, and functional tests ensure that workflows operate correctly.
Understanding how to write and execute tests is important for the exam, especially regarding PHPUnit and Magento testing best practices.

Security and Best Practices

Security is critical in Magento 2 development. Developers must follow coding standards, validate user input, and escape output in templates. Following Magento coding standards ensures consistent and secure code.
Understanding the difference between data sanitization and data escaping is important for both development and the certification exam.

Who This Part is For

This section of the course is designed for developers preparing for the Magento 2 Associate Developer Certification who already have a basic understanding of Magento. If you want to master dependency injection, plugins, events, layouts, repositories, and APIs, this part will strengthen your skills. It is also for developers aiming to write clean, testable, and secure Magento code that aligns with certification requirements.

Magento 2 Caching Overview

Caching is a critical part of Magento 2 performance optimization. Magento uses different types of cache layers to improve speed and reduce server load. Developers must know how caching works, how to clear it, and when to configure it. Understanding cache types such as configuration, layout, block HTML output, collections, and page cache is crucial for exam readiness. Each type of cache stores a different part of Magento’s data. For example, layout cache stores XML instructions, while full-page cache speeds up frontend rendering.

Full Page Cache in Detail

Full Page Cache (FPC) is one of the most important caching systems in Magento. It reduces the need to regenerate entire pages by storing pre-rendered versions of pages. When customers visit the storefront, Magento serves cached pages instead of regenerating them every time. FPC can use built-in file-based caching or external caching systems like Varnish. Developers must know how to configure FPC and invalidate cache when product or CMS data changes. On the exam, you may be asked to identify which actions trigger cache invalidation.

Cache Invalidation and Best Practices

Cache invalidation ensures that customers always see the most recent content. For example, when a product price changes, the cache must be invalidated so the storefront reflects the new price. Magento uses cache tags for invalidation. Each cache entry is tagged with identifiers, and when a related entity changes, the cache entries are invalidated. As a developer, you must understand how cache tags are applied and how to create custom cache types. The certification exam often includes questions about caching and invalidation logic.

Magento 2 Indexing System

Indexing is the process of transforming raw data into optimized tables for faster retrieval. For example, product prices are stored in multiple tables. Indexers consolidate these into a single optimized table. Developers must understand how indexers work, how to configure them, and how to rebuild them when needed. Magento supports both real-time and scheduled indexing. Real-time indexing happens immediately, while scheduled indexing defers updates to a later time. This improves performance in high-traffic stores.

Working with Custom Indexers

Sometimes, custom modules require their own indexing process. Developers can create custom indexers by defining configuration files and writing indexer classes. A custom indexer listens for data changes and updates optimized tables. For the certification exam, you should know the structure of indexer.xml and the steps involved in registering an indexer. Understanding when to create a custom indexer versus reusing an existing one is also important.

Creating Custom Entities in Magento 2

Magento allows developers to create custom entities such as blog posts, reviews, or events. This involves defining database schema, models, resource models, and repositories. The declarative schema simplifies entity creation by allowing developers to define tables and relationships in XML. Service contracts expose these entities to the API layer. Certification questions may test your ability to recognize the components required to build a custom entity and integrate it into Magento’s ecosystem.

Admin Configuration Options

Magento modules often require admin configuration options. These are defined in system.xml and config.xml files. Developers can add fields to the admin configuration interface, grouped under sections and tabs. Configuration values are stored in the core_config_data table and accessed through Magento’s configuration API. For the exam, you should understand how to create configuration fields, how to access their values in code, and how to validate configuration data.

Custom Admin Grids

Custom admin grids allow administrators to manage custom entities from the backend. Magento provides UI components for building grids with filtering, sorting, and mass actions. Developers define grid configuration in XML and link it to data providers. For certification preparation, it is important to understand how grids fetch data, how to customize columns, and how to add actions. Practical scenarios often require extending admin grids for modules.

Custom Forms in the Admin Panel

Magento’s UI components also allow developers to create admin forms for editing entities. These forms are defined in XML and linked to data sources. Developers can use fieldsets, input fields, dropdowns, and file uploads. Validation rules ensure that data entered into the form is correct. Certification questions may ask how admin forms are connected to repositories and how data is saved after submission.

Magento 2 Deployment Process

Deployment in Magento involves preparing the application for production. This includes running setup upgrade commands, compiling code, generating static content, and clearing cache. Developers must know the deployment modes available: default, developer, and production. Production mode is optimized for live sites with full caching and static content deployment. Developer mode provides detailed error reporting for debugging. Certification questions often test knowledge of which deployment mode is appropriate for given scenarios.

Static Content Deployment

Static content includes CSS, JavaScript, images, and other frontend assets. During deployment, these assets are compiled and placed into the pub/static directory. Developers can deploy content for specific locales and themes. For the exam, you should understand when static content must be redeployed and how to handle issues such as missing styles or scripts after deployment.

Magento CLI Tools

Magento provides a powerful command-line interface (CLI) for developers. The CLI allows you to manage cache, indexers, modules, and deployment tasks. Common commands include setup:upgrade, cache:flush, and indexer:reindex. Developers must know which commands are used in which scenarios. The certification exam often includes questions about CLI usage for tasks such as enabling modules or redeploying static content.

Logging and Debugging in Magento 2

Debugging is essential for Magento development. Magento provides logging functionality through the Monolog library. Developers can write custom log entries, define log levels, and trace issues. The var/log directory contains log files that help identify problems. For the exam, you must know how to enable developer logging, how to use Xdebug, and how to troubleshoot common errors.

Exception Handling and Error Management

Magento uses structured exception handling to manage errors. Exceptions can be thrown at different layers of the application. Developers should understand the difference between localized exceptions, which provide user-friendly messages, and generic exceptions, which are logged for developers. Best practice is to provide clear error messages without exposing sensitive system information. Certification scenarios often test understanding of error handling in both frontend and backend contexts.

Magento Cron Jobs

Cron jobs are scheduled tasks that automate processes such as reindexing, sending emails, or cleaning logs. Developers can create custom cron jobs by defining configuration in crontab.xml and writing cron classes. Cron groups allow tasks to run on different schedules. For the exam, you should know how to configure and troubleshoot cron jobs. Questions may also ask about the impact of disabled cron jobs on Magento functionality.

Working with the Message Queue System

Magento includes a message queue framework for handling asynchronous tasks. The system supports RabbitMQ and other queue backends. Developers can define topics, publishers, and consumers to manage long-running processes like order fulfillment or data synchronization. Certification questions may test your ability to identify when to use message queues and how to configure them properly.

Magento 2 Performance Optimization

Performance is a key area in Magento development. Developers must understand how to optimize database queries, reduce server load, and improve frontend performance. Techniques include enabling caching, using indexers efficiently, optimizing images, and minifying CSS and JavaScript. For certification, you should know the difference between client-side optimization and server-side optimization.

Magento 2 Security Practices

Security is critical in eCommerce. Developers must follow best practices such as validating input, escaping output, using CSRF tokens, and following Magento’s coding standards. Sensitive data should always be encrypted. For the exam, you should know which practices protect against SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and cross-site request forgery.

Magento 2 Testing Strategies

Magento supports multiple testing frameworks. Unit tests validate individual classes, integration tests validate module interactions, and functional tests validate workflows in the storefront or admin. Developers can use PHPUnit for unit and integration tests and Magento Functional Testing Framework (MFTF) for automated functional tests. Certification questions may test your understanding of which type of test is appropriate in different scenarios.

Practical Scenario: Extending Checkout

Imagine a client requests an additional field at checkout for delivery instructions. To implement this, a developer would add the field using layout XML, create a custom module to store the data, and extend the order entity. The data would also need to be displayed in the admin panel. For the exam, you may encounter similar scenarios where you need to determine the correct approach to extending checkout or order functionality.

Practical Scenario: Custom API Endpoint

Suppose you need to create a custom API endpoint for retrieving vendor data. This requires defining a service contract, creating a repository, and registering the API in webapi.xml. Authentication and authorization must be configured to control access. Certification questions often include similar tasks where you identify the correct steps to expose data through the Magento API.

Practical Scenario: Custom Admin Grid Extension

A client may request an additional column in the product grid to show supplier information. The solution involves extending the grid’s UI component XML, modifying the data provider, and retrieving supplier data from a custom table. Understanding how to extend admin grids is a frequent certification topic.

Prepaway's Magento 2 Certified Associate Developer video training course for passing certification exams is the only solution which you need.