IICTI Certified Node.js Developer

Holders demonstrate that they can apply and evaluate event loop internals, libuv and async execution model, v8 performance, memory management and profiling, streams, backpressure and high-throughput I/O and concurrency and scaling: worker threads, cluster and processes, plus 7 further areas, in realistic professional scenarios, as defined in the AQSCERT scheme for Node.js Developer.

Who it is for: Professionals working, or preparing to work, in software development roles.

1. 01Event loop internals, libuv and async execution model16% of the exam

   • Diagnose event loop blocking and async ordering issues and design non-blocking execution paths.
   • Scope: libuv phases, microtask vs macrotask queues, process.nextTick, thread pool sizing (UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE), event loop lag and utilisation, AsyncLocalStorage and async_hooks.
2. 02V8 performance, memory management and profiling5% of the exam

   • Diagnose CPU and memory performance problems in production Node.js services using profiling evidence.
   • Scope: Hidden classes and inline caches, JIT deoptimisation, generational GC and heap tuning, heap snapshots and leak hunting, CPU flame graphs, clinic.js and --cpu-prof, 0x.
3. 03Streams, backpressure and high-throughput I/O7% of the exam

   • Design streaming data pipelines that handle backpressure and large volumes with bounded memory.
   • Scope: Readable/Writable/Transform streams, backpressure and highWaterMark, stream.pipeline, Web Streams API, Buffers and zero-copy patterns, large file and network data processing.
4. 04Concurrency and scaling: worker threads, cluster and processes5% of the exam

   • Evaluate concurrency models and architect a scaling strategy matched to CPU and I/O workload profiles.
   • Scope: worker_threads and SharedArrayBuffer/Atomics, cluster module, child processes, horizontal scaling behind load balancers, CPU-bound offloading strategies, graceful shutdown.
5. 05Service architecture with modern Node.js frameworks9% of the exam

   • Architect maintainable Node.js services and justify framework and API style choices for given constraints.
   • Scope: Fastify, NestJS and Express 5 trade-offs, plugin and DI architectures, schema-driven validation (JSON Schema, Zod), GraphQL and gRPC servers, modular monolith vs microservices.
6. 06Data access, caching and distributed consistency11% of the exam

   • Design data access and messaging layers that remain correct and performant under concurrency and failure.
   • Scope: Connection pooling, ORM vs query builder trade-offs (Prisma, Drizzle, Knex), transactions and isolation, Redis caching patterns, idempotency, outbox pattern, message queues (BullMQ, Kafka).
7. 07Node.js application security and supply chain integrity15% of the exam

   • Evaluate Node.js services for security weaknesses and implement supply chain and runtime hardening controls.
   • Scope: OWASP Top 10 and API Top 10 in Node.js, prototype pollution, ReDoS, injection, Node permission model, secrets handling, npm provenance, lockfile and dependency auditing, SBOM (CycloneDX).
8. 08TypeScript at scale and module system engineering11% of the exam

   • Design type-safe, well-structured codebases and resolve module system and build tooling issues in large projects.
   • Scope: Advanced TypeScript types, strict configuration, ESM vs CommonJS interop, require(esm), native type stripping, monorepos (pnpm workspaces, Nx, Turborepo), package publishing and versioning.
9. 09Testing strategy and quality engineering for Node.js7% of the exam

   • Design a layered testing strategy that gives fast, reliable confidence in Node.js services.
   • Scope: node:test, Vitest and Jest, test doubles and dependency injection, integration tests with Testcontainers, contract tests, load testing with autocannon and k6, mutation testing.
10. 10Observability, resilience and production operations8% of the exam

    • Diagnose production incidents and design resilient, observable services with clear operational signals.
    • Scope: OpenTelemetry tracing and metrics, structured logging (pino), diagnostics_channel, health checks, timeouts, retries, circuit breakers, rate limiting, crash and core dump analysis.
11. 11Deployment, runtime platforms and release engineering6% of the exam

    • Evaluate runtime and deployment options and lead safe upgrade and release processes for Node.js platforms.
    • Scope: Containerising Node.js (distroless, multi-stage builds, signal handling), serverless and edge runtimes, Node LTS upgrade strategy, Bun and Deno compatibility, CI/CD and zero-downtime releases.

Question types

Single choice 100%

Delivery

Online (remote proctored), Test centre, On-site (corporate)

Retakes

Up to three attempts within any 12-month period. A 14-day waiting period applies after a first unsuccessful attempt and 30 days after a second. Each retake requires a new booking and fee. Retakes draw a different randomised form from the question bank.

Provisional cut score — psychometric validation is required before live delivery. Blueprint v1.0.

1. 1

   Register

   Create a free account and start the programme.

2. 2

   Practice

   Online practice test (coming soon).

3. 3

   Training

   Optional

   Online course or classroom — or skip it.

4. 4

   Certification

   Independent exam and certification decision.

Training is optional and does not by itself confer certification. Find a training partner