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100+ Free CDEF Practice Questions

Pass your Continuous Delivery Ecosystem Foundation (CDEF) exam on the first try — instant access, no signup required.

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Question 1
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What does Infrastructure as Code (IaC) mean?

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2026 Statistics

Key Facts: CDEF Exam

40

Exam Questions

DevOps Institute

65%

Passing Score

DevOps Institute

60 min

Time Limit

DevOps Institute

~$320

Exam Fee

DevOps Institute

Lifetime

Cert Validity

DevOps Institute

None

Prerequisites

DevOps Institute

CDEF is a 40-question, 60-minute exam requiring 65% to pass (~$320). Key domains: continuous integration (~25%), continuous delivery and deployment pipelines (~25%), testing strategies (~15%), artifact and configuration management (~15%), infrastructure and platform (~10%), DevSecOps in pipelines (~10%). No formal prerequisites. Certification does not expire.

Sample CDEF Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your CDEF exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1What is the primary goal of Continuous Delivery?
A.Automate all testing phases
B.Ensure software can be released to production at any time
C.Deploy code to production automatically on every commit
D.Eliminate the need for manual testing
Explanation: Continuous Delivery ensures that software is always in a releasable state and can be deployed to production at any time with minimal manual effort.
2What distinguishes Continuous Deployment from Continuous Delivery?
A.Continuous Deployment requires manual approval before production
B.Continuous Deployment automatically releases every passing build to production
C.Continuous Delivery uses containerization while Deployment does not
D.Continuous Deployment skips automated testing
Explanation: Continuous Deployment takes Continuous Delivery a step further by automatically deploying every build that passes all automated tests to production without manual approval.
3In a blue/green deployment, what is the role of the 'green' environment?
A.The current live production environment
B.The new version that will receive live traffic after cutover
C.A staging environment used only for testing
D.A rollback snapshot of the previous release
Explanation: In blue/green deployments, the green environment hosts the new version. Once it passes validation, traffic is switched from blue (current production) to green.
4Which deployment strategy gradually shifts traffic from an old version to a new version by replacing instances incrementally?
A.Blue/green deployment
B.Canary deployment
C.Rolling deployment
D.Recreate deployment
Explanation: A rolling deployment incrementally replaces instances of the old version with the new version, gradually shifting traffic without requiring a duplicate full environment.
5A canary deployment is best described as which of the following?
A.Deploying to all instances simultaneously
B.Routing a small subset of users to the new version while the majority uses the old version
C.Deploying to a blue environment and switching DNS
D.Deploying only during off-peak hours
Explanation: A canary deployment sends a small slice of real traffic to the new version, allowing teams to validate behavior in production with limited blast radius before a full rollout.
6What is a feature flag (also called a feature toggle)?
A.A Git branch naming convention
B.A mechanism to enable or disable features at runtime without deploying new code
C.A Docker label added to container images
D.A CI pipeline condition that skips certain stages
Explanation: Feature flags allow teams to turn features on or off at runtime through configuration rather than code deployment, enabling dark launches, A/B testing, and risk mitigation.
7Which of the following is a key benefit of using feature flags?
A.They replace the need for automated testing
B.They allow decoupling of code deployment from feature release
C.They enforce branch naming conventions
D.They compress build artifacts
Explanation: Feature flags decouple deployment (shipping code) from release (activating the feature), letting teams deploy continuously while controlling when users see new functionality.
8What does Infrastructure as Code (IaC) mean?
A.Writing shell scripts to manually configure servers
B.Managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files
C.Documenting infrastructure topology in spreadsheets
D.Using a GUI console to create cloud resources
Explanation: IaC treats infrastructure configuration as source code — stored in version control, peer-reviewed, and applied automatically — enabling repeatable, consistent environment provisioning.
9Which of the following tools is most commonly associated with declarative Infrastructure as Code?
A.Jenkins
B.Terraform
C.Selenium
D.JUnit
Explanation: Terraform uses a declarative HCL syntax to define desired infrastructure state and reconciles the actual state to match it, making it a flagship IaC tool.
10What is GitOps?
A.A Git branching strategy for open-source projects
B.An operational model where Git is the single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and applications
C.A method for merging pull requests automatically
D.A set of Git commit message conventions
Explanation: GitOps uses Git as the authoritative source for both application and infrastructure configuration, with automated reconciliation loops that converge actual state to the desired state stored in Git.

About the CDEF Exam

The Continuous Delivery Ecosystem Foundation (CDEF) from DevOps Institute validates foundational knowledge of continuous integration and delivery practices, pipeline automation, artifact management, testing strategies, and infrastructure as code. The exam is designed for developers, operations engineers, and teams adopting modern CI/CD practices. It emphasizes the tools, patterns, and principles that compose the continuous delivery ecosystem.

Questions

40 scored questions

Time Limit

60 minutes

Passing Score

65% (26/40 correct)

Exam Fee

~$320 (DevOps Institute)

CDEF Exam Content Outline

~25%

Continuous Integration

CI concepts, build automation, automated testing, branching strategies, merge frequency

~25%

Continuous Delivery and Deployment

CD pipelines, blue/green deployments, canary releases, rolling updates, feature flags

~15%

Artifact and Configuration Management

Artifact repositories, immutable artifacts, configuration as code, secrets management

~15%

Testing Strategies

Test pyramid, unit/integration/E2E tests, test automation, shift-left testing

~10%

Infrastructure and Platform

Infrastructure as code, containerization, orchestration, cloud-native pipelines

~10%

Security and Compliance in Pipelines

DevSecOps, SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, compliance gates in CD

How to Pass the CDEF Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: 65% (26/40 correct)
  • Exam length: 40 questions
  • Time limit: 60 minutes
  • Exam fee: ~$320

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

CDEF Study Tips from Top Performers

1Know the difference between CI, continuous delivery, and continuous deployment — these are commonly tested with scenario questions
2Understand the test pyramid: unit tests at the base (many, fast), integration tests in the middle, E2E tests at the top (few, slow)
3Study deployment strategies: blue/green, canary, rolling, and recreate — know the risk and rollback approach for each
4Understand artifact immutability: build once, deploy many times; never rebuild artifacts for different environments
5Know feature flags (feature toggles): decouple deployment from feature release, enable A/B testing and dark launches
6Understand SAST vs DAST: SAST analyzes code (shift-left), DAST tests running applications — both belong in CI/CD pipelines
7Study branching strategies: trunk-based development vs. Gitflow and when each is appropriate in CD contexts

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the CDEF certification?

The Continuous Delivery Ecosystem Foundation (CDEF) from DevOps Institute validates foundational knowledge of CI/CD practices. It covers continuous integration, deployment pipelines, deployment strategies (blue/green, canary), artifact management, test automation, and DevSecOps in pipelines. The exam has 40 questions in 60 minutes and requires 65% to pass.

What is the difference between continuous delivery and continuous deployment?

Continuous delivery means every code change is automatically built, tested, and made ready to deploy to production — but deployment is manually triggered. Continuous deployment goes further: every change that passes automated tests is automatically deployed to production without human intervention. Both require a robust CI/CD pipeline with comprehensive automated testing.

What deployment strategies does CDEF cover?

CDEF covers blue/green deployment (maintaining two identical environments and switching traffic between them), canary releases (gradually routing a small percentage of traffic to the new version), rolling deployments (incrementally replacing old instances with new ones), and feature flags (enabling/disabling features without deployment). Each strategy has different risk profiles and rollback approaches.

What is the test pyramid in CDEF?

The test pyramid describes the recommended distribution of automated tests: a wide base of unit tests (fast, isolated, many), a middle layer of integration tests (testing component interactions, fewer), and a small top layer of end-to-end tests (full system tests, slowest and fewest). The pyramid emphasizes shift-left testing — catching defects earlier in the pipeline when they are cheapest to fix.

Does CDEF certification expire?

No — the CDEF certification from DevOps Institute does not expire. It is a lifetime credential. DevOps Institute recommends practitioners continue learning as CI/CD tooling evolves, but no formal renewal is required to maintain the certification.