Announcing the App Development Certification Exam in Shopify Partner Academy

Introducing the new App Development Certification exam! Test your ability to build quality Shopify Apps and identify areas that you may need to work on. By passing the App Development Certification, you will demonstrate that you have the knowledge and skills to produce products at a level of quality Shopify, and merchants, expect.

Early in 2018, we launched Shopify Partner Academy, to help you grow your skills in your industry. Since launch, we’ve also introduced technical exams as a way to test and prove your expertise in your craft. Our first technical exam was our Theme Development Certification. Today, we’re building on that by introducing the App Development Certification exam.

This new exam will help you gauge your ability to build quality Shopify Apps. By passing the App Development Certification, you will demonstrate that you have the knowledge and skills to produce products at a level of quality Shopify, and merchants, expect.

Read on to learn more about the details of this new exam, how you can study for it, and why it will help build your expertise as a Shopify app developer.

Grow your development expertise

The App Development Certification tests you on all areas of developing apps for the Shopify platform, including public, private, and unpublished apps. The certification covers everything from building secure apps that merchants can trust, to solving complicated technical situations you may encounter as you build. By testing your knowledge and skills against a standardized exam, you will uncover how familiar you are with the various tools, frameworks, and best practices involved in the app development process.

This certification is great for your team, as well. If you’re taking on a new staff member, you can use the exam as a training resource. It can act as a benchmark within your team to establish standards for your work.

By setting your employees up for success and testing your skills now, you will elevate the quality of the apps you develop—providing merchants with stable and reliable products they can rely on. You’ll also be less likely to stumble during the app submission process due to technical missteps or missing requirements.

You might also like: Announcing Shopify Partner Academy — A Certification Program to Help You Succeed.

What to expect in the App Development Certification exam

The App Development Certification is an 80-question exam consisting of multiple choice and short-answer questions. The certification delves into your familiarity with the frameworks, resources, and expectations of building successful Shopify Apps. You will be tested on:

1. Valuing merchants’ trust. The certification evaluates your ability to develop an app with a scalable infrastructure that values privacy and security. You will demonstrate your familiarity with the ins and outs of handling API call limits and building an app that responsibly handles customer data.
   
   
2. Optimizing for a merchant’s experience. This exam will test if you can build and design an essential app user interface and experience. You will demonstrate your ability to optimize perceived load times, set service level agreements (SLAs), and use Polaris in your app’s design, content, and accessibility.
   
   
3. Mastering the strategy, tools, and frameworks for developing on Shopify. You will be assessed on your knowledge of Shopify’s various APIs, and whether you have good understanding of the libraries and tools used in Shopify app development.
   
   
4. Following Shopify’s best practices. Throughout the whole exam, you will be appraised on your understanding of the best practices that underlie the development experience on Shopify, including how Shopify expects developers to support, build, and maintain their apps.

Are you working with Visual Studio Code for development? Check out our article on the best Visual Studio Code extensions.

Resources to help you study

There is no limit on how many times you can take the App Development Certification exam, so don’t feel pressured to pass on your first try. However, it’s worth noting that questions are randomly generated each time, so it’s best to brush up on your knowledge before attempting it.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of educational resources to help you get ready:

• Development Fundamentals course in Shopify Partner Academy
• Shopify API tutorials
• The Shopify Admin API and Storefront API pages in the Help Center
• Polaris structure and component implementations
• Shopify app development best practices

Excel at Shopify app development

The App Development Certification exam will help you test and elevate the quality of your development skills. Prove your knowledge of how app development on Shopify works, how to consistently build stable and reliable products, and how to best serve the merchants that use them.

Get started today. Jump into the App Development Certification exam now, or explore other Shopify Partner Academy courses to grow your expertise as a Shopify Partner.