Expected Salesforce Certified Platform Development Lifecycle and Deployment Architect (Plat-Arch-202) Exam Topics, as suggested by Salesforce :

• Module 1: Application Lifecycle Management: In this section, the exam covers topics such as project risk and customer requirements, describes how to evaluate the benefits and risks of the different development techniques, and suggests the appropriate governance strategies based on customer maturity.
• Module 2: Planning: In this section of the exam, the focus is on the application lifecycle management maturity and identifying the people, technology, and processes required.
• Module 3: System Design: This section covers topics such as the advantages of using agile tools to support an agile development process. In a given scenario, the section covers how to assess a business and its technical, and architectural considerations that support the defined org strategy.
• Module 4: Building: This section explains the utilization of source control branching and merging while suggesting the right techniques.
• Module 5: Deploying: In a provided landscape, this section of the exam covers explaining the capabilities, limitations, and considerations when using the Metadata and Tooling APIs for deployment.
• Module 6: Testing: This section covers topics such as how to describe and recommend an appropriate testing methodology. It covers how to describe the appropriate test execution methodology and coverage requirements.
• Module 7: Releasing: In a provided landscape, this section deals with how to analyze and explain the use cases and considerations when using managed, unmanaged, and unlocked packages. It also covers how to apply map sandbox strategy to a specific release plan, taking into consideration multiple project streams, training requirements, staging, and hotfixes.
• Module 8: Operating: in this section learners are assessed for describing the implications of incorporating the request directly in a production environment. It also covers explaining the implications of the development lifecycle and steps to integrate changes into application lifecycle management.