Adobe Commerce Developer Expert study plan

Diagram the request lifecycle from entry point through routing, controller dispatch, and response, labeling where modules and DI participate

Trace how a custom module's registration, module.xml, and composer autoload combine to make a class resolvable

Explain the layout XML and block rendering pipeline well enough to predict which template renders for a given route

Build a minimal module that declares a route, controller, block, and template and confirm each layer works

Configure constructor dependency injection with virtual types and argument overrides in di.xml and verify the injected behavior changes

Write an around, before, and after plugin for the same method and document the ordering and return-value semantics of each

Implement an observer and a preference override, then explain when to prefer each over a plugin

Use the interceptor and object manager concepts to debug why a plugin is not firing

Create a declarative schema and a data patch, then run setup upgrade and verify the table and seeded rows

Compare EAV and flat-table modeling and justify a storage choice for a sample attribute

Define an EAV attribute set and attribute programmatically and confirm it appears on the entity form

Write a repository with get, getList, save, and delete backed by a collection

Query EAV attribute values through collections and explain the joins the ORM generates

Write and explain a direct SQL query joining entity, attribute, and value tables for a given attribute code

Use search criteria, filters, and sort orders against a repository and predict the resulting SQL

Distinguish frontend, backend, and global scopes for attribute storage

Profile a slow collection and identify an N+1 or missing-index problem

Cache a block and a collection result using the appropriate cache type and verify invalidation on save

Explain cache types, cache tags, and private versus public content and apply the right one to a sample scenario

Configure a full-page cache scenario and describe how it differs from block cache

Configure production mode, static content deploy, and DI compilation in a local environment and record each command's effect

Diagnose a deployment failure caused by a stale generated directory or compiled config

Set environment configuration in app/etc/env.php and app/etc/config.php and explain their precedence

Explain indexing modes and run a reindex, observing behavior in update-on-save versus schedule

Answer timed practice questions across all four domains and log every miss by domain and root cause

Re-teach the two weakest subtopics from notes without consulting references

Re-implement one previously failing concept as a small working example

Review plugin ordering, DI compilation effects, and EAV join behavior together in one integrated scenario

Complete two full timed mock exams and compare domain scores against the pass threshold

Drill only the domains still below target until each reaches a consistent score

Write a one-page cheat sheet of the highest-risk facts you keep forgetting

Do a final review pass of all four domains and confirm readiness