DP-800 Study Guide
A study path for Microsoft Certified: SQL AI Developer Associate (DP-800) — what to know before you start, and the order worth doing things in.
Prerequisites
No strict prerequisites, but the exam assumes subject matter expertise designing and developing AI-enabled database solutions across Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL, and SQL databases in Microsoft Fabric. You should be comfortable writing T-SQL, familiar with CI/CD in GitHub, and know AI concepts such as embeddings, vectors, and models.
Recommended background
- T-SQL fundamentals — tables, constraints, views, stored procedures, and CTEs
- Core database security concepts — encryption, masking, and row-level security
- Basic familiarity with AI concepts like embeddings, vector search, and RAG
- Comfort with GitHub-based CI/CD and Copilot-assisted development
Step-by-step study plan
Open Microsoft's official skills-measured breakdown and use it as your checklist — it's updated whenever the exam changes.
Official DP study guidePick a date through the official Microsoft certification page and plan your study time backwards from it. Give yourself 2–4 weeks if you already use the tech weekly, 4–8 weeks if you're newer to it.
Exam & scheduling pageComplete Microsoft's free, self-paced modules for this exam. Take notes on anything you can't explain simply — that's what to revisit.
Official documentationDP-800 rewards recognizing real scenarios and trade-offs, not memorization. Spin up a free-tier environment and actually try the concepts — ingestion, transformations, security settings — rather than just reading about them.
Use FabricPrep's DP-800 practice questions to find weak spots, and take a timed mock exam to build comfort with exam-day pacing.
Practice DP-800 now — 90 free questionsThe day before: review only your weak topics, don't cram new material. On exam day: read each question carefully, eliminate wrong answers first, and watch for wording that implies a constraint (least privilege, cost, performance).
90 realistic DP-800 practice questions with instant feedback and detailed explanations.
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