MySQL 1Z0-909 Study Plan: Schema Design, SQL, and Performance
March 28, 2026
MySQL 1Z0-909 study plan covering schema design, SQL development, indexing, performance, and deployment review order.
Most candidates pass 1Z0-909 with 60-120 focused hours, faster if they already write SQL daily.
| Your time |
Recommended timeline |
| 18-22 hrs/week |
30 days (intensive) |
| 10-14 hrs/week |
60 days (balanced) |
| 6-9 hrs/week |
90 days (part-time) |
How to use this plan
- Use the resources page as your checklist of canonical MySQL references.
- Drill “predict the output, does it compile, what changes” questions daily.
- Keep a list of edge cases you miss, especially
NULL in joins, grouping granularity, transaction visibility, and index use.
- Send recurring misses to the local cheat sheet or glossary.
30-Day Intensive Plan (4 weeks)
| Week |
Focus |
Output |
| 1 |
SQL fundamentals, joins, filtering |
drills |
| 2 |
DDL, keys, constraints, indexing |
drills |
| 3 |
Transactions, locking, optimization with EXPLAIN |
mixed sets |
| 4 |
Stored programs, JSON, review |
readiness check |
60-Day Balanced Plan (8 weeks)
| Week |
Focus |
Output |
| 1 |
SELECT, predicates, NULL behavior |
drills |
| 2 |
Joins and subqueries |
drills |
| 3 |
Aggregation and grouping |
drills |
| 4 |
Table design and constraints |
drills |
| 5 |
Indexes and optimization |
drills |
| 6 |
Transactions, isolation, locking |
mixed sets |
| 7 |
Stored programs |
mixed sets |
| 8 |
JSON, security basics, final review |
readiness check |
90-Day Part-Time Plan (12 weeks)
| Weeks |
Focus |
Output |
| 1-2 |
Querying fundamentals |
drills |
| 3-4 |
Joins and subqueries |
drills |
| 5 |
Aggregation |
drills |
| 6-7 |
Schema design and constraints |
drills |
| 8 |
Indexing |
drills |
| 9 |
Query plans with EXPLAIN |
drills |
| 10 |
Transactions and locking |
mixed sets |
| 11 |
Stored programs |
mixed sets |
| 12 |
JSON and final review |
readiness check |
Booking signal
Book when you can:
- predict output and row counts for tricky join and grouping questions
- explain why a predicate or index choice helps or hurts the plan
- reason about transaction behavior without hand-waving
- choose between schema, query, or indexing fixes with a clear performance and correctness justification
Final 72 hours
- Re-read Cheat Sheet for joins, aggregation, indexing, and transaction traps
- Use FAQ to clean up final uncertainty
- Keep Resources open for exact MySQL syntax or manual-section confirmation
Revised on Sunday, May 10, 2026