The response to the Associate practice exam was bigger than we imagined. Here is what comes next, and why we are taking on more.
Something shifted for us this month.
When we launched the free Databricks Data Engineer Associate practice exam, we expected a small, quiet response. Instead, thousands of engineers showed up. They took the exam at 2 a.m. in Bangalore, on lunch breaks in Berlin, on weekends in São Paulo. They emailed us. They thanked us. They asked one question more than any other.
When are you doing the Professional?
So here is the answer. We are.
The Associate exam validates that you understand the building blocks. The Professional exam is a different conversation. It asks whether you can design, operate, and reason about real production data systems on Databricks. Streaming with watermarks. Slowly changing dimensions done correctly. Performance tuning that actually moves the needle. Security and governance that hold up under audit.
This is the exam that separates engineers who know Databricks from engineers who can be trusted with Databricks in production. With Databricks Lakeflow now GA, the exam also tests your ability to orchestrate unified ingestion and transformation.
It deserves the same kind of preparation we built for the Associate. Honest questions. Real scenarios. Detailed explanations. No fluff. No upsell pressure. Free for everyone who wants to learn.
We learned three things in the last few weeks.
The first is that the gap between courses and certification exams is much wider than most learning platforms admit. People finish the videos, feel ready, sit the exam, and walk out shaken. The reason is not effort. It is the absence of practice that mirrors the real test.
The second is that geography does not matter when the material is good. Engineers in countries we never marketed to found the practice exam, shared it with their teams, and came back to tell us it helped. Quality travels on its own.
The third is the one that changed how we think about this project. There are tens of thousands of data engineers around the world preparing for Databricks certifications right now, often paying twice for an exam they could have passed the first time. They deserve better tools. We can build those tools.
We are aligning every question to the official Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional exam guide published in November 2025. That means full coverage across the six domains.
Databricks tooling. Data processing with Spark, Delta Lake, and Lakeflow Declarative Pipelines (formerly Delta Live Tables). Data modeling for the lakehouse. Security and governance with Unity Catalog and OpenSharing. Monitoring and logging. Testing and deployment.
The exam will be timed the way the real one is timed. The questions will look and feel the way the real ones look and feel. The explanations will tell you why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are tempting. You will get your results by email so you can review them later, just like the Associate exam.
You can try the Professional practice exam here:
Databricks Data Engineer Professional Practice Exam
When we started BricksNotes, we wanted to write a calm, practice-first book about data engineering on Databricks. The book is still here. The lessons are still free. The philosophy has not changed.
But the response to the Associate exam made it clear that we have a chance to do more. Not bigger marketing. Not louder claims. Just more genuinely useful preparation material for engineers who are trying to grow.
So we are taking that on. The Professional practice exam is the next step. After that, we will keep listening to what engineers actually need and we will keep building.
If you are preparing for the Professional exam, or thinking about it, or just curious whether you could pass it today, the practice exam is ready for you. Use it. Share it with your team. Tell us what to fix.
We are in this with you.
When will the Professional practice exam be available?
It is live now in an early form at /practice/databricks-data-engineer-professional. We will keep refining questions and explanations over the coming weeks based on feedback from real test-takers.
Which domains does it cover?
All six domains from the official Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional exam guide published in November 2025. That is Databricks tooling, data processing with Spark and Delta Lake, data modeling for the lakehouse, security and governance with Unity Catalog, monitoring and logging, and testing and deployment.
How long is the exam and how many questions?
It is timed to mirror the real Professional exam so the pacing feels familiar on test day. You will see scenario-style questions across all six domains in a single sitting.
When do I get my results by email?
Results are emailed automatically as soon as you submit the exam. You will get your score, a domain-by-down breakdown, and a link to review every question with full explanations.
Is it really free?
Yes. No paywall, no upsell, no credit card. Just enter your email so we can send the results.
Will it stay free?
Yes. The Associate practice exam is free and the Professional one will stay free too. That is the promise.