Databricks
Databricks Certified Data Analyst Associate
SQL-first certification on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform (Oct 30, 2025 blueprint): Unity Catalog, Databricks SQL, AI/BI dashboards, Genie, modeling, and security. Study notes follow the official outline; featured videos are long-form workshops and a 3-hour SQL Warehouse course, not 3-minute teasers.
How this path is built
Notes follow the official Oct 30, 2025 exam outline — every listed objective is covered, including Assistant/explain, streaming tables vs materialized views, Photon, Liquid Clustering, AI/BI parameters, Genie trusted assets, data vault vs Medallion, and UC volumes.
Featured videos are long-form: a ~3 hour Databricks SQL Warehouse course (modules jump to the matching chapter), Unity Catalog deep-dives, and full AI/BI Genie workshops. Spend most time on the four heaviest domains: SQL warehouses (20%), dashboards (16%), analyzing queries (15%), and Genie (12%).
Domains
Weights follow the Oct 2025 exam guide
Understanding of Databricks Data Intelligence Platform
Lakehouse pieces an analyst must name: Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Databricks SQL, Lakeflow, Mosaic AI, Marketplace, and Catalog Explorer objects.
Managing Data
Discover and query certified datasets, tag assets, read lineage, and clean Unity Catalog tables in ANSI SQL.
Importing Data
UI upload, cloud/S3 ingest, Auto Loader, Delta Sharing, APIs, and Marketplace — pick the method that matches scale and freshness.
Executing queries using Databricks SQL and SQL Warehouses
Heaviest domain: warehouses, Assistant, ANSI joins/aggs, federation, managed vs external tables, views vs MV vs streaming tables, time travel.
Analyzing Queries
Photon, Query Insights/profile, history, caching, DESCRIBE HISTORY, Liquid Clustering, and fixing incorrect SQL.
Creating Dashboards and Visualizations in Databricks
AI/BI multi-page dashboards, datasets, widgets, parameters, sharing/embed, scheduled refresh, alerts, chart choice.
Developing, Sharing, and Maintaining AI/BI Genie spaces
Genie spaces/agents: purpose, warehouse, curated UC tables, sample questions, trusted assets, permissions, embed, monitoring, benchmarks.
Data Modeling with Databricks SQL
Star, snowflake, and data vault — and how they sit on Medallion bronze/silver/gold.
Securing Data
UC 3-level namespace, privileges, ownership, sharing settings, PII/masking, storage best practices.