Professional-Cloud-Developer · ● Active · Professional · Google Cloud
Exam facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost | $200 USD |
| Duration | 2 hours (120 minutes) |
| Questions | ~50–60 |
| Passing | ~70% correct |
| Format | Multiple choice / Multiple select, scenario-based |
| Delivery | Kryterion Webassessor (online or test centre) |
| Languages | English |
| Valid | 2 years |
| Renewal | Retake exam |
| Prerequisites | Recommended: 3+ years industry experience, 1+ year with Google Cloud |
| Released | 2021 |
| Retiring | N/A |
Vendor source — cloud.google.com/learn/certification/cloud-developer ↗ Official exam guide — Exam guide ↗
About
The Google Cloud Professional Cloud Developer certification validates expertise in building highly scalable, secure, and reliable cloud-native applications on Google Cloud Platform. This certification demonstrates proficiency with application design patterns, deployment across multiple GCP platforms (App Engine, Cloud Run, GKE, Cloud Functions), CI/CD pipelines, and integration of GCP services. It is ideal for software engineers and developers who design and deploy production applications on GCP.
Domain context — Cloud
Hyperscale public cloud (GCP). Part of the Google Cloud certification track for cloud application specialists.
Read full deep dive — Google Cloud →
Topics covered
Exam Domain Distribution:
- Designing Cloud-Native Applications (~25%) – Design scalable, highly available, disaster-resistant applications; evaluate architectural patterns; optimize for performance and cost
- Building and Testing Applications (~25%) – Develop cloud-native code; implement error handling and logging; create and run unit and integration tests; optimize code performance
- Deploying Applications (~20%) – Deploy to various GCP platforms (App Engine, Cloud Run, GKE, Cloud Functions); manage versions and traffic; implement blue-green and canary deployments
- Integrating Google Cloud Services (~20%) – Integrate messaging (Pub/Sub), APIs, databases (Firestore, Spanner), authentication (IAM, OAuth); manage service discovery
- Managing Application Performance and Reliability (~10%) – Monitor applications; implement observability; debug and optimize; manage incidents; apply security practices
Key Technologies Covered:
- Cloud Run (serverless containers)
- App Engine (managed platform)
- Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
- Cloud Functions (event-driven serverless)
- Cloud Build (CI/CD automation)
- Artifact Registry (container registry)
- Cloud Deploy (deployment automation)
- Cloud Pub/Sub (event streaming)
- Firestore, Spanner (databases)
- Firebase (mobile/web backend)
- Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, Cloud Trace, Cloud Debugger
- IAM, Cloud KMS (security)
- Service Mesh (Istio), networking
Common job-ready skills
- Design cloud-native, scalable applications using GCP services
- Build containerized applications and deploy to Cloud Run and GKE
- Implement CI/CD pipelines with Cloud Build and Cloud Deploy
- Integrate Pub/Sub for event-driven architectures
- Use Firestore and Spanner for application data
- Implement authentication, authorization, and security patterns
- Monitor, log, and debug applications in production
- Optimize application performance and cost
Recommended courses
Google Cloud Skills Boost (official):
- Preparing for the Professional Cloud Developer Exam
- Build a Cloud Application with Cloud Run and Firestore
- Cloud Run Quickstarts
- Implementing CI/CD with Google Cloud Build
Coursera:
Pluralsight:
- Google Cloud Professional Cloud Developer Path (on-demand courses and labs)
Practice exams
- Official Google Cloud Practice Exam – Available on Google Cloud Certification website
- ExamTopics – Community practice questions
- CertificationPractice.com – Professional Cloud Developer Practice Tests
Books
-
Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Developer Exam Guide by Sebastian Moreno (2023)
- Publisher: Packt Publishing
- ISBN: 978-1-800560-99-4
- O'Reilly ↗
-
Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Study Guide, 2nd Edition by Dan Sullivan (2021)
- Publisher: Sybex
- ISBN: 978-1-119-87144-6
- O'Reilly ↗
-
Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect Study Guide by Dan Sullivan (2022)
- Publisher: Sybex
- O'Reilly ↗
Job titles
- Cloud Developer
- Backend Developer (Cloud)
- Full Stack Cloud Engineer
- DevOps Engineer
- Software Engineer, Cloud Platform
- Cloud Application Architect
- Senior Cloud Engineer
Salary
United States (USD)
| Level | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | $100,000 | $120,000 | $145,000 |
| Mid | $130,000 | $155,000 | $185,000 |
| Senior | $170,000 | $195,000 | $230,000 |
South Africa (ZAR) (× 18)
| Level | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | R1,800,000 | R2,160,000 | R2,610,000 |
| Mid | R2,340,000 | R2,790,000 | R3,330,000 |
| Senior | R3,060,000 | R3,510,000 | R4,140,000 |
United Kingdom (GBP)
| Level | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | £78,000 | £94,000 | £113,000 |
| Mid | £102,000 | £122,000 | £145,000 |
| Senior | £133,000 | £153,000 | £180,000 |
European Union (EUR)
| Level | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | €85,000 | €103,000 | €125,000 |
| Mid | €112,000 | €135,000 | €160,000 |
| Senior | €145,000 | €170,000 | €200,000 |
Australia (AUD)
| Level | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | $165,000 | $195,000 | $235,000 |
| Mid | $215,000 | $250,000 | $300,000 |
| Senior | $295,000 | $335,000 | $390,000 |
Skills validated
- Design and build cloud-native applications using GCP serverless platforms
- Deploy applications across Cloud Run, App Engine, GKE, and Cloud Functions
- Implement CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment strategies
- Integrate Pub/Sub and event-driven architectures
- Use managed databases (Firestore, Spanner) effectively
- Implement security, authentication, and authorization patterns
- Monitor, debug, and troubleshoot applications in production
- Optimize application performance and cloud costs
Related certs
- Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer
- Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
- Google Cloud Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate
- Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)