Databricks Data Analyst vs Data Engineer
Databricks has two associate certifications at the data layer. The Data Analyst Associate is about querying, analysing and presenting data. The Data Engineer Associate is about getting data in and making it reliable.
Same price, same length, same validity. Different jobs.
Side by side
| Data Analyst Associate | Data Engineer Associate | |
|---|---|---|
| Scored questions | 45 | 45 |
| Duration | 90 minutes | 90 minutes |
| Fee | $200 | $200 |
| Validity | 2 years | 2 years |
| Sections | 9 | 7 |
| Languages | English only | English, Japanese, Portuguese (BR), Korean |
| Largest section | Executing queries (20%) | Data Transformation and Modeling (22%) |
The sections
Analyst — asking and answering questions:
| Section | Weight |
|---|---|
| Executing queries using Databricks SQL | 20% |
| Creating Dashboards and Visualizations | 16% |
| Analyzing Queries | 15% |
| AI/BI Genie spaces | 12% |
| Understanding the Platform | 11% |
| Managing Data | 8% |
| Securing Data | 8% |
| Importing Data | 5% |
| Data Modeling with Databricks SQL | 5% |
Engineer — building the supply:
| Section | Weight |
|---|---|
| Data Transformation and Modeling | 22% |
| Data Ingestion and Loading | 21% |
| Working with Lakeflow Jobs | 16% |
| Governance and Security | 15% |
| Implementing CI/CD | 10% |
| Troubleshooting, Monitoring, Optimization | 10% |
| Databricks Intelligence Platform | 6% |
Where they diverge
Ingestion. 21% for the engineer, 5% for the analyst. The clearest single indicator of which exam is which.
Orchestration and CI/CD. 26% of the engineer exam, absent from the analyst exam entirely. Analysts are not expected to schedule jobs or manage deployment pipelines.
Dashboards and Genie. 28% of the analyst exam, absent from the engineer exam. Engineers are not expected to build visualisations.
SQL. Both use it, differently. The analyst exam tests query writing, performance and interpretation. The engineer exam tests SQL as a transformation tool inside pipelines.
What they share
Roughly a fifth. Both cover the platform, Unity Catalog governance and security basics, and Delta tables. Both assume six months of hands-on use and neither requires prerequisites.
If you take one and later take the other, that shared portion is already banked.
Which should you take?
Analyst if your week is queries, dashboards and answering business questions. If you live in Databricks SQL and someone else maintains the tables you query, this is your exam.
Engineer if you build and maintain the tables. If you have ever been paged because a pipeline failed overnight, that is the other exam.
Analyst first, then engineer, if you are an analyst moving toward engineering. That is the common direction of travel, and the analyst exam covers ground the engineer exam assumes.
One practical difference worth knowing
The analyst exam is offered in English only. The engineer exam is available in four languages. If English is not your first language and you are genuinely torn between the two, that is a real consideration rather than a footnote.