OCI Developer Associate - Practice Plan¶

A comprehensive 6-week study plan for the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Developer Associate certification (1Z0-1084-24).

Week 1-2: Cloud Native Development¶

Week 1: Functions and API Gateway¶

Day 1-2: Functions Basics - [ ] Create OCI account / Use existing - [ ] Install Fn CLI - [ ] Deploy first function (Hello World) - [ ] Test function invocation - [ ] Lab: Create function to process JSON - [ ] Practice: 10 Functions quiz questions

Day 3-4: Functions with OCI Services - [ ] Configure resource principal - [ ] Access Object Storage from function - [ ] Trigger function from Object Storage event - [ ] Lab: Image thumbnail generation function - [ ] Practice: 15 Functions integration questions

Day 5-7: API Gateway - [ ] Create API Gateway - [ ] Deploy API with multiple routes - [ ] Configure authentication (JWT) - [ ] Set up rate limiting and CORS - [ ] Lab: Build REST API with Functions backend - [ ] Practice: 20 API Gateway questions

Week 2: Containers (OKE and OCIR)¶

Day 1-3: Container Engine (OKE) - [ ] Create OKE cluster - [ ] Deploy application to OKE - [ ] Configure kubectl - [ ] Create services and ingress - [ ] Lab: Deploy multi-tier app on OKE - [ ] Practice: 20 OKE questions

Day 4-5: Container Registry (OCIR) - [ ] Push image to OCIR - [ ] Pull image from OCIR - [ ] Configure IAM policies - [ ] Lab: CI/CD with OCIR - [ ] Practice: 15 OCIR questions

Day 6-7: Review and Practice - [ ] Review all Week 1-2 notes - [ ] Complete hands-on labs again - [ ] Take practice test (40 questions) - [ ] Practice: Focus on weak areas

Week 3-4: Application Deployment and Integration¶

Week 3: Messaging and Deployment¶

Day 1-2: Queue Service - [ ] Create queue - [ ] Send and receive messages - [ ] Configure visibility timeout - [ ] Lab: Async task processing with Queue - [ ] Practice: 10 Queue questions

Day 3-4: Streaming - [ ] Create stream - [ ] Produce messages to stream - [ ] Consume with cursor - [ ] Configure consumer groups - [ ] Lab: Event pipeline with Streaming - [ ] Practice: 15 Streaming questions

Day 5-7: Deployment Strategies - [ ] Blue-green deployment on OKE - [ ] Canary deployment (Istio) - [ ] Rolling updates - [ ] Lab: Implement all three strategies - [ ] Practice: 20 deployment questions

Week 4: Service Mesh and Integration¶

Day 1-3: Service Mesh (Istio) - [ ] Install Istio on OKE - [ ] Configure traffic management - [ ] Set up circuit breaker - [ ] Enable distributed tracing - [ ] Lab: Microservices with Istio - [ ] Practice: 15 Service Mesh questions

Day 4-5: Events and Integration - [ ] Create event rules - [ ] Configure Service Connector Hub - [ ] Lab: Event-driven architecture - [ ] Practice: 15 integration questions

Day 6-7: Review and Practice - [ ] Review Week 3-4 notes - [ ] Practice test (40 questions) - [ ] Hands-on review - [ ] Practice: Focus on weak areas

Week 5: DevOps and Monitoring¶

Days 1-2: DevOps Service¶

Days 3-4: Resource Manager¶

Days 5-7: Monitoring and Logging¶

Week 6: Final Preparation¶

Days 1-2: Comprehensive Review¶

Review all study notes
Re-do all hands-on labs
Focus on weak topics
Practice: 50 mixed questions

Days 3-4: Practice Exams¶

Practice exam #1 (60 questions, timed)
Review incorrect answers thoroughly
Practice exam #2 (60 questions, timed)
Target: 80%+ score

Days 5-6: Final Polish¶

Quick review of all topics
Focus on scenarios and use cases
Review exam objectives
Practice: 30 scenario-based questions

Day 7: Pre-Exam¶

Light review only
No new material
Rest and relaxation
Prepare exam environment

Hands-on Labs Checklist¶

Functions¶

Create and deploy function
Trigger function from Object Storage
Access OCI services from function
Image processing function

API Gateway¶

Deploy API with multiple routes
Configure JWT authentication
Set up rate limiting
Integrate with Functions backend

OKE¶

Create OKE cluster
Deploy containerized application
Configure services and ingress
Implement autoscaling

OCIR¶

Push images to registry
Configure access policies
Pull images in OKE

Messaging¶

Send/receive messages (Queue)
Produce/consume (Streaming)
Consumer groups

Deployment¶

Blue-green deployment
Canary deployment
Rolling update

DevOps¶

Complete CI/CD pipeline
Build and deploy automatically
Configure approval gates

Monitoring¶

Instrument application with APM
View distributed traces
Create Log Analytics queries
Build custom dashboard

Key Topics to Master¶

Critical (Must Know)¶

Functions: Resource principal, event triggers
API Gateway: Authentication, rate limiting
OKE: Deployments, services, kubectl
OCIR: Image management, IAM
Queue vs Streaming: Use cases, differences
DevOps: Build pipeline, deployment pipeline
APM: Distributed tracing, instrumentation

Important (Should Know)¶

Deployment strategies (blue-green, canary)
Service Mesh (Istio): Traffic management
Events and Service Connector
Resource Manager: Terraform, stacks
Logging: Service logs, custom logs

Good to Know¶

Advanced Istio features
Complex event patterns
Advanced APM queries
Drift detection

Exam Strategy¶

Time Management - 90 minutes for 60 questions = 1.5 min/question - First pass: Answer known questions (60 min) - Second pass: Harder questions (20 min) - Final review: Check all answers (10 min)

Question Approach - Read carefully (keywords matter) - Eliminate wrong answers - Choose "most correct" answer - Flag uncertain questions

Common Question Patterns - "Which service for..." (Choose right service) - "How to implement..." (Implementation steps) - "What happens when..." (Understand behavior) - "Best practice for..." (Architecture decisions)

Resources¶

Official¶

Oracle Learning Paths (mylearn.oracle.com)
OCI Documentation
Hands-on Labs (Oracle LiveLabs)
Sample questions (Oracle)

Practice¶

Study notes (this repo)
Hands-on labs (above checklist)
Practice exams (minimum 200 questions)
Scenario-based questions

Tools¶

Week Before Exam¶

Take final practice exam (timed, 60 questions)
Score 85%+ consistently
Review flagged topics
No new labs (review only)
Rest well (8 hours sleep)

Exam Day¶

Good luck with your OCI Developer Associate certification!

Focus on hands-on practice - the exam tests practical knowledge!