CCDAK
The CCDAK is Confluent's official, role-based credential proving you can build production applications on Apache Kafka — not just describe it. It is sat by data and backend engineers who already work with event streaming, and it is deliberately practical: questions probe producer and consumer behaviour, delivery semantics, Kafka Streams, and Connect. Because the result is Pass/Fail with roughly a 70% bar and no partial credit, a single weak domain can sink an otherwise strong attempt. This page breaks down exactly what CCDAK tests, how it's delivered online, and how to get it done right the first time.
Pay Only After You Pass
No upfront fee — you settle only after your verified passing result. We advertise guaranteed results — 100% pass guaranteed or money back.
How the CCDAK is built — at a glance
~60
A mix of multiple-choice, multiple-response, matching, and list-ordering items. Several questions show code or config snippets and ask what the client will actually do at runtime.
90
Roughly 90 seconds per question. That is generous for recall items but tight for the scenario questions on delivery semantics, rebalancing, and Streams topology behaviour.
~70%
Confluent reports your result as Pass or Fail, not a raw number. The commonly cited bar is around 70%, with no negative marking and no partial credit — so balance across domains matters.
Items are linear and non-adaptive — you can flag and revisit any question within the 90-minute window. Expect practical scenarios: "a producer is configured with acks=all and a replication factor of 3, what happens when one broker fails?" rather than dictionary-style trivia. Reading the config in each stem carefully is half the battle.
There is no fixed numeric report card — you walk away with Pass or Fail. Because the cut score sits near 70% and questions span six weighted domains, a single neglected area (Streams or Connect are common blind spots) can quietly drop you under the line even when your core producer/consumer knowledge is strong.
Six developer-focused domains — bars show each domain's approximate share of the exam
The heaviest domain: producer and consumer APIs, serializers and Schema Registry, keys and partitioning, consumer groups, offsets, and delivery semantics (at-most-once, at-least-once, exactly-once).
Core architecture: brokers, topics, partitions, replication and ISR, the log, retention and compaction, leaders and followers, and how the cluster and clients coordinate.
Source and sink connectors, standalone vs distributed mode, converters and transforms (SMTs), and when to use Connect instead of writing a bespoke producer or consumer.
Client and broker metrics, consumer lag, JMX, throughput and latency signals, and diagnosing rebalances or under-replicated partitions in a running application.
The Streams DSL and Processor API: KStream vs KTable, stateful operations, windowing, joins, state stores, and exactly-once stream processing semantics.
Testing Kafka clients and Streams topologies — MockProducer/MockConsumer, the TopologyTestDriver, and embedded or test-container approaches to verify behaviour before production.
Domain weights are approximate and reflect Confluent's published exam guide; the exact blueprint can shift between exam versions. Application Development and Fundamentals together make up roughly half the test, so client-API fluency and a precise mental model of partitions and replication are the highest-leverage areas to lock down.
One way to sit the exam — online, on demand, anywhere — and what to expect on test day
There is no test-center option for the CCDAK — it is delivered entirely online and available globally, so you can schedule and sit it on demand from a private room. You register through Confluent's training portal, pay the $150 fee, and launch the exam in the Google Chrome browser when you are ready.
The CCDAK is monitored by Honorlock through your browser. You complete a system check, a webcam room scan, and a government-ID identity check before the exam unlocks. You will need a webcam, a microphone, a stable connection, and the Chrome browser with the Honorlock extension.
A valid, unexpired government photo ID is required, with your name matching your Confluent profile. The proctoring system captures a photo and verifies you before the exam starts.
A clear desk, no second monitor, no phone or notes within reach, and a webcam scan of the room. You must be alone for the full 90 minutes, with no breaks once the exam begins.
Stay on camera and in frame. Looking off-screen, talking aloud, opening other applications, or losing connection can flag the session. Confirm bandwidth and a quiet space well in advance.
CCDAK is built for engineers who build on Kafka
No formal requirements — but hands-on Kafka experience is assumed
Difficulty: CCDAK is considered moderate-to-hard for engineers who have only used Kafka casually. The traps are in the details — exactly-once semantics, the interplay of acks, min.insync.replicas and replication factor, rebalance behaviour, and Streams state — which is exactly the kind of precise, high-stakes content our help is designed to take off your plate.
CCDAK is a Pass/Fail, online-proctored exam where a single weak domain can cost you the credential. Exam Assist pairs you with a vetted Kafka specialist and works on a pay-after-you-pass model — so the risk sits with us, not you. No upfront fee, guaranteed results: Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end, and you settle only after the verified result.
Tell us your target date, your Confluent registration status, and how confident you feel on each domain. Takes a couple of minutes over WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
We review your timeline and target and tell you plainly whether it's realistic — before any money is discussed. If it isn't a fit, we say so.
Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end. You're matched with a Kafka specialist who maps the work around the six CCDAK domains and the Honorlock online environment — discreetly and confidentially.
You only pay once your passing result is confirmed on your official Confluent record. No verified pass, nothing owed.
Tell us your exam date and target, and get an honest, no-pressure feasibility answer first.
Straight answers about the CCDAK exam
Book your exam and compare sibling Kafka and developer certifications
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View examGet expert CCDAK help with no upfront fee — you settle only after your verified passing result. Honest feasibility answer first, results-first arrangement always.