Microsoft Power Platform App Maker (PL-100): Comprehensive Fact Sheet¶

Exam Overview¶

The Microsoft Power Platform App Maker Associate (PL-100) certification validates your ability to design, build, test, and deploy Power Apps solutions that simplify, automate, and transform business processes using Microsoft Power Platform.

Exam Details: - Exam Code: PL-100 - Duration: 120 minutes - Number of Questions: 40-60 questions - Passing Score: 700 out of 1000 - Question Types: Multiple choice, multiple select, drag and drop, case studies - Cost: $165 USD - Language: Available in English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Italian - Prerequisites: 6-12 months hands-on experience with Power Platform

Exam Domains and Weightings¶

1. Design Business Solutions (20-25%)
2. Create Apps (30-35%)
3. Manage, Deploy, and Share Apps (10-15%)
4. Work with Data and Services (15-20%)
5. Implement Business Logic and Business Process (10-15%)

1. Design Business Solutions (20-25%)¶

Requirements Analysis¶

📖 Power Apps Planning Guide - Strategic planning for Power Apps solutions

📖 App Design Best Practices - User-centered design approach

📖 Data Modeling in Power Apps - Design effective data structures

📖 Security Planning - Plan security and access control

App Type Selection¶

📖 Canvas Apps vs Model-Driven Apps - Choose the right app type

📖 When to Use Canvas Apps - Pixel-perfect custom UI scenarios

📖 When to Use Model-Driven Apps - Data-driven business applications

📖 Power Pages Overview - External-facing websites and portals

📖 Mixed App Scenarios - Combining canvas and model-driven components

User Experience Design¶

📖 App Design Principles - Create intuitive user interfaces

📖 Accessibility in Power Apps - Design for all users

📖 Responsive Design - Adapt to different screen sizes

📖 Mobile App Considerations - Design for mobile devices

2. Create Apps (30-35%)¶

Canvas Apps Development¶

📖 Canvas Apps Overview - Introduction to canvas app development

📖 Create Your First Canvas App - Step-by-step canvas app creation

📖 Canvas App Controls - Button, label, text input, gallery, and more

📖 Galleries in Canvas Apps - Display collections of data

📖 Forms in Canvas Apps - Create, edit, and view data forms

📖 Navigation Between Screens - Navigate(), Back(), and screen transitions

📖 Variables and Collections - Global, context, and collection variables

📖 Canvas App Formulas - Complete formula reference

📖 Power Fx Language - Low-code programming language

Model-Driven Apps Development¶

📖 Model-Driven Apps Overview - Data-first application development

📖 Create Model-Driven App - Build your first model-driven app

📖 App Designer - Visual app composition

📖 Forms in Model-Driven Apps - Design main, quick create, and quick view forms

📖 Views in Model-Driven Apps - Create and configure data views

📖 Charts and Dashboards - Visualize data with charts and dashboards

📖 Business Rules - No-code logic in forms

📖 Site Map Configuration - Configure app navigation

📖 Command Bar Customization - Customize commands and ribbons

Components and Reusability¶

📖 Canvas Components - Build reusable components

📖 Component Library - Share components across apps

📖 Templates - Use and create app templates

📖 Code Components (PCF) - Power Apps Component Framework

3. Manage, Deploy, and Share Apps (10-15%)¶

App Lifecycle Management¶

📖 ALM for Power Platform - Application lifecycle management overview

📖 Solutions in Power Apps - Package and deploy apps with solutions

📖 Managed vs Unmanaged Solutions - Understanding solution types

📖 Solution Layers - Manage customization layers

📖 Export and Import Solutions - Move solutions between environments

Environments¶

📖 Environments Overview - Development, test, and production environments

📖 Environment Types - Production, sandbox, trial, developer

📖 Environment Variables - Manage configuration across environments

📖 Connection References - Reusable connector connections

Sharing and Security¶

📖 Share Canvas Apps - Share with users and groups

📖 Share Model-Driven Apps - Security roles and app access

📖 Security Roles - Define user permissions

📖 Data Loss Prevention Policies - Control connector usage

📖 App Settings and Properties - Configure app metadata

4. Work with Data and Services (15-20%)¶

Microsoft Dataverse¶

📖 Dataverse Overview - Secure, cloud-based data storage

📖 Tables in Dataverse - Standard and custom tables

📖 Columns and Data Types - Text, number, choice, lookup, and more

📖 Relationships - One-to-many, many-to-one, many-to-many

📖 Choice Columns - Local and global choice sets

📖 Calculated and Rollup Columns - Automated field calculations

📖 Business Rules in Dataverse - Table-level logic

Data Connectors¶

📖 Connectors Overview - 600+ connectors for data sources

📖 Standard Connectors - Common data sources (SharePoint, SQL, Excel)

📖 Premium Connectors - Enterprise connectors requiring premium license

📖 Custom Connectors - Connect to proprietary or REST APIs

📖 SharePoint Integration - Work with SharePoint lists and libraries

📖 Excel Integration - Connect to Excel workbooks

📖 SQL Server Connection - Connect to SQL databases

Data Operations¶

📖 Filter and Sort Data - Filter(), Sort(), Search() functions

📖 Lookup and Search Functions - LookUp(), Search() for finding data

📖 Patch Function - Create, update, and modify records

📖 Collect and Clear Functions - Work with collections

📖 Delegation - Understanding data delegation limits

📖 Offline Capabilities - Build apps that work offline

5. Implement Business Logic and Business Process (10-15%)¶

Power Automate Integration¶

📖 Power Automate Overview - Workflow automation platform

📖 Trigger Power Automate from Apps - Connect apps to flows

📖 Cloud Flows - Automated, instant, and scheduled flows

📖 Button Flows - Manual trigger flows

📖 Approval Workflows - Build approval processes

📖 Flow Input and Output Parameters - Pass data between apps and flows

Business Process Flows¶

📖 Business Process Flows Overview - Guide users through processes

📖 Create Business Process Flow - Design guided processes

📖 Stages and Steps - Structure business processes

📖 Branching in Business Process Flows - Conditional process paths

Business Rules and Validation¶

📖 Business Rules - No-code business logic

📖 Business Rule Scope - Entity, all forms, or specific forms

📖 Business Rule Actions - Show/hide, set value, validate, show message

📖 Form Validation - Client-side validation

AI Builder Integration¶

📖 AI Builder Overview - Add AI capabilities to apps

📖 Prebuilt AI Models - Ready-to-use AI models

📖 Form Processing - Extract data from forms

📖 Object Detection - Detect objects in images

📖 Text Recognition (OCR) - Extract text from images

📖 Sentiment Analysis - Analyze text sentiment

📖 Custom AI Models - Train custom prediction and classification models

Development Tools and Resources¶

Power Apps Studio¶

📖 Canvas App Studio - Development environment for canvas apps

📖 Modern App Designer - Build model-driven apps visually

📖 Formula Bar - Write and edit formulas

📖 IntelliSense - Auto-completion and syntax help

Testing and Debugging¶

📖 Test Studio - Automated testing for canvas apps

📖 Monitor Tool - Debug apps in real-time

📖 App Checker - Identify errors and performance issues

📖 Formula-Level Error Handling - IfError() and IsError() functions

Performance Optimization¶

📖 Performance Optimization Tips - Improve app performance

📖 Concurrent Function - Run multiple operations in parallel

📖 Optimize Data Calls - Reduce connector calls

📖 OnStart Optimization - Improve app load time

Common Scenarios and Patterns¶

Scenario 1: Expense Approval App¶

Requirement: Track and approve expense reports

Solution Components: - Canvas app for expense entry - Dataverse tables for expenses - Power Automate approval flow - Model-driven app for managers - Business process flow for status

Scenario 2: Asset Management¶

Requirement: Track company assets and maintenance

Solution Components: - Model-driven app for asset catalog - Dataverse relationships (assets, locations, users) - Business rules for validation - Views and dashboards for reporting - QR code scanning with canvas app

Scenario 3: Customer Onboarding Portal¶

Requirement: External portal for new customers

Solution Components: - Power Pages portal - Dataverse for customer data - Web forms for registration - Power Automate for notifications - Integration with CRM

Scenario 4: Inspection Checklist¶

Requirement: Mobile inspection app with offline capability

Solution Components: - Canvas app with offline mode - Photo capture and annotation - Dataverse for inspection records - AI Builder for defect detection - Power BI for analytics

Scenario 5: Help Desk Ticketing¶

Requirement: IT support ticket management

Solution Components: - Model-driven app for ticket tracking - Business process flow for ticket resolution - Power Automate for assignment rules - Email integration for notifications - Dashboard for metrics

Key Concepts to Master¶

Canvas Apps¶

• Understanding controls and their properties
• Working with galleries and forms
• Navigation and screen management
• Variables (global, context, collections)
• Formulas and Power Fx syntax
• Delegation and performance

Model-Driven Apps¶

• Data-first design approach
• Forms, views, and charts
• Business rules and processes
• Security roles and permissions
• Site map and navigation
• Command customization

Dataverse¶

• Tables, columns, and relationships
• Choice sets and lookups
• Security and permissions
• Business rules and validation
• Calculated and rollup fields
• Audit and change tracking

Integration¶

• Connectors and data sources
• Power Automate integration
• AI Builder capabilities
• Custom connectors
• API integration
• External data sources

ALM¶

• Solutions and components
• Environment strategy
• Export and import
• Version control
• Deployment planning
• Change management

Important Formulas and Functions¶

Navigation¶

• Navigate(Screen, Transition) - Navigate to screen
• Back() - Return to previous screen
• Exit() - Close the app

Data Operations¶

• Patch(DataSource, Record, Updates) - Create/update records
• Remove(DataSource, Record) - Delete record
• Filter(DataSource, Condition) - Filter data
• LookUp(DataSource, Condition) - Find single record
• Sort(DataSource, Column, Order) - Sort data

Collections¶

• Collect(Collection, Records) - Add to collection
• Clear(Collection) - Empty collection
• ClearCollect(Collection, Records) - Replace collection

Variables¶

• Set(Variable, Value) - Global variable
• UpdateContext({Variable: Value}) - Context variable
• Collect()/ClearCollect() - Collection variable

Display¶

• Text(Value, Format) - Format text/numbers
• Value(String) - Convert to number
• DateValue(String) - Convert to date
• Concatenate(String1, String2) - Join strings

Logic¶

• If(Condition, True, False) - Conditional logic
• Switch(Value, Match1, Result1, ...) - Multiple conditions
• And(), Or(), Not() - Logical operators
• IsBlank(), IsEmpty() - Check for empty values

Quick Reference Tables¶

App Type Selection¶

Connector Types¶

Environment Types¶

Exam Preparation Resources¶

Official Microsoft Resources¶

📖 PL-100 Exam Page - Official exam details and registration

📖 PL-100 Study Guide - Skills measured and learning paths

📖 Microsoft Learn for PL-100 - Free training modules

📖 PL-100 Practice Assessment - Official practice questions

Hands-On Resources¶

📖 Power Apps Community - Forums, samples, and discussions

📖 App in a Day Workshop - Hands-on training materials

📖 Power Apps Samples - Official code samples

📖 Power Platform Developer Plan - Free development environment

Exam Tips and Strategies¶

Time Management¶

• Allocate ~2 minutes per question
• Don't spend too long on any single question
• Mark questions for review
• Save case studies for when focused

Common Question Types¶

• Scenario-based: Choose appropriate app type or approach
• Formula completion: Select correct Power Fx formula
• Configuration: Identify proper settings or properties
• Troubleshooting: Diagnose and fix issues
• Best practices: Choose optimal solution

Key Focus Areas¶

• Difference between canvas and model-driven apps
• When to use Dataverse vs other connectors
• Delegation understanding and limits
• Security roles and sharing
• Solution packaging and ALM
• Business rules vs flows vs formulas
• Common formulas (Patch, Filter, LookUp)

Hands-On Practice Required¶

• Build multiple canvas apps from scratch
• Create model-driven apps with Dataverse
• Work with various data sources and connectors
• Implement business logic with rules and flows
• Practice sharing and deploying apps
• Debug apps with Monitor tool

Final Preparation Checklist¶

Technical Skills¶

• Create blank and data-driven canvas apps
• Use galleries, forms, and controls
• Write formulas with Power Fx
• Connect to multiple data sources
• Create and customize model-driven apps
• Design Dataverse tables and relationships
• Implement business rules
• Create and trigger Power Automate flows
• Use AI Builder in apps
• Package apps in solutions
• Share apps with users
• Test and debug apps

Conceptual Understanding¶

• Know when to use canvas vs model-driven
• Understand delegation limits
• Know security and sharing models
• Understand solution concepts
• Know connector types and licensing
• Understand environment strategy

Exam Readiness¶

• Review all exam objectives
• Complete practice assessment
• Review formula reference
• Practice hands-on scenarios
• Study common patterns
• Get good rest before exam

Last Updated: 2025-01-13 Exam Version: Based on skills measured as of January 2025 Total Documentation Links: 100+

Notes¶

This comprehensive fact sheet covers all major domains of the PL-100 exam with embedded links to official Microsoft documentation. The PL-100 certification validates low-code development skills essential for citizen developers and business analysts creating Power Apps solutions.

For the most current exam information, always refer to the official Microsoft Learn certification page.

Good luck on your PL-100 exam!