Confluent · Associate
Confluent Certified Developer for Apache Kafka (CCDAK)
Build, test, and monitor event-streaming applications on Apache Kafka and Kafka Streams.
CCDAK exam at a glance
| Exam code | CCDAK |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Confluent |
| Level | Associate |
| Domains | 4 |
| Published practice questions | 58 |
| Our mock exam | 55 questions in 90 minutes |
| Our practice pass target | 70% |
| Checked against the exam guide | July 7, 2026 |
| Official exam page | Confluent — CCDAK |
The mock exam length, time limit and pass target are our practice settings, not official exam scores or a guarantee of passing. Check the official CCDAK exam page for the current format, price and scoring before you book.
CCDAK exam domains
Weights show our practice allocation, built from the official exam guide; official blueprints may give ranges. Each domain links to its free sample questions (with explanations) and study guide preview once they are published.
Apache Kafka Fundamentals
40%Kafka's architecture, topics, partitions, replication, producers, consumers, consumer groups, delivery semantics, and the Schema Registry.
- Broker architecture, topics, and partitions
- Replication, leaders, followers, and in-sync replicas (ISR)
- Producer configuration: acks, keys, partitioning, idempotence
- Consumer configuration, consumer groups, offsets, and rebalancing
- Delivery semantics: at-most-once, at-least-once, exactly-once
- Message retention, compaction, and cleanup policies
- Serialization and the Confluent Schema Registry (Avro/Protobuf/JSON Schema)
- Ordering guarantees and how keys affect partitioning
Free Apache Kafka Fundamentals practice questions →Apache Kafka Fundamentals study guide →
Kafka Streams and Stream Processing
30%Building stream-processing applications with Kafka Streams: stateless and stateful operations, KStream/KTable, windowing, and joins.
- Kafka Streams topology, KStream and KTable abstractions
- Stateless operations: map, filter, flatMap, branch
- Stateful operations: aggregations, count, reduce, and state stores
- Windowing: tumbling, hopping, sliding, and session windows
- Joins: stream-stream, stream-table, table-table
- Serdes (serializers/deserializers) in Kafka Streams
- Exactly-once processing in Kafka Streams
Free Kafka Streams and Stream Processing practice questions →Kafka Streams and Stream Processing study guide →
Application Testing
15%Designing and executing unit and integration tests for Kafka producers, consumers, and Streams applications.
- Unit testing producers and consumers (MockProducer, MockConsumer)
- Testing Kafka Streams topologies with TopologyTestDriver
- Integration testing with embedded/test Kafka clusters
- Testing serialization and Schema Registry compatibility
- Verifying delivery semantics and error handling in tests
Free Application Testing practice questions →Application Testing study guide →
Application Observability
15%Monitoring Kafka client and Streams applications with metrics, logs, and tracing to ensure healthy operation.
- Key producer and consumer metrics (throughput, latency, consumer lag)
- Monitoring consumer lag and its meaning
- JMX metrics exposed by Kafka clients and Streams
- Logging and error diagnosis for Kafka applications
- Tracing and end-to-end observability of event pipelines
Free Application Observability practice questions →Application Observability study guide →
CCDAK FAQ
How is the Certified Developer for Apache Kafka (CCDAK) practice assessment configured?
Our practice format targets 55 questions in 90 minutes. Availability depends on the published question bank and is shown on this course page. Official exam question counts and formats may differ.
What does the 70% practice target mean?
Check the provider's current exam guide for official scoring. A practice percentage is not an official scaled score. DataCertPrep uses 70% as an internal practice target, not a prediction or guarantee of passing.
How should I assess my progress in Certified Developer for Apache Kafka (CCDAK)?
Use practice accuracy to find weak topics. Repeating familiar questions can inflate your score. Check coverage of the current objectives, practise hands-on tasks, and assess yourself on unseen questions.
What is the best way to study Certified Developer for Apache Kafka (CCDAK)?
Read the available guides, work through practice explanations, use flashcards and complete practical exercises. Take a timed assessment when available. Check the provider's current exam guide before booking your exam.
Should I use CCDAK exam dumps?
No. "Dumps" are questions copied or recalled from the live exam. Certification exams are covered by a candidate agreement that prohibits sharing or using them, and breaking it can lead to a revoked certification or a ban from future exams. Dumps are also often wrong, and they go out of date when the exam blueprint changes. Memorising answers does not build the skills the exam tests. Study the official Confluent exam guide and practise with original questions that explain each answer, such as the free sample questions linked on this page.