#PowerPlatformTip 31: 'Power Platform Learning Resources: Where to Learn What, for Free'

TL;DR: Learn concepts with Microsoft Learn training, look up exact behaviour in the product documentation and the connector reference, check what is coming in the release plans, ask people in the Power Platform Community, and practise in a free Developer environment. All of it is free.

Microsoft publishes plenty of Power Platform material. The hard part is knowing which source answers which question, so you don’t read a beginner module when you need a connector limit.

💡 Challenge

Training modules, reference documentation, release notes, blog posts and forum threads all live in different places and age at different speeds. A two-year-old blog post may describe a feature that has since been renamed, while the reference documentation already shows the current state.

✅ Solution

Use each official resource for the job it is built for:

Question	Resource
“How does this work, step by step?”	Microsoft Learn training for Power Platform
“What exactly does this function or setting do?”	Product docs: Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Platform
“Which actions, limits and throttling does this connector have?”	Connector reference
“How should we set this up in a company?”	Power Platform guidance
“What is coming next?”	Release plans and the Release Planner
“Has anyone solved this before?”	Power Platform Community
“What did Microsoft announce?”	Power Platform blog
“Which certification fits me?”	Microsoft Learn credentials

🔧 How It’s Done

1. Start with a learning path.

🔸 On Microsoft Learn training, filter by product (Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, Dataverse) and role. Modules are free and include hands-on exercises.

2. Practise in your own environment.

🔸 Sign up for the free Power Apps Developer Plan to get a Developer environment with Dataverse, where you can try every exercise without touching production (see Tip 90).

3. Switch to the reference docs for details.

🔸 For SharePoint as a data source, the connector reference and the delegation documentation tell you which functions and operators run on the server. That decides whether a Filter on a large list returns all matching items or only the first 500 (up to 2,000 with the data row limit setting).

4. Check the release plans before you build around a gap.

🔸 If a feature is missing, the release plans show whether it is planned and in which release wave.

5. Use the community when the docs end.

🔸 Search the Power Platform Community forum for your error message before you open a ticket.

🎉 Result

You know where to go for each kind of question: concepts from training, facts from reference docs, roadmap from the release plans, real-world fixes from the community.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Free: training, docs, release plans, community and the Developer Plan cost nothing.

🔸 Current: reference docs are updated with the product, blog posts are not.

🔸 Faster answers: the right source first saves searching through outdated tutorials.

🛠️ FAQ

1. Are these Microsoft learning resources free?

Yes. Microsoft Learn training, the documentation, release plans and the community forum are free. Certification exams are paid.

2. Which certification should I start with?

PL-900 (Power Platform Fundamentals) is the entry point. The associate and expert certifications change over time, so check the current list and retirement dates on the Microsoft Learn credentials page before you plan an exam.

3. Where can I practise without a company environment?

With the Power Apps Developer Plan you get a free Developer environment for learning and testing. It is not meant for production use.

🔗 Related Tips

🔸 #PowerPlatformTip 90: ‘Power Platform Community Developer Plan’ - a free environment to practise everything you learn here.

🔸 #PowerPlatformTip 26: ‘Microsoft Cloud Skills Challenge’ - learning modules as a structured challenge.

🔸 #PowerPlatformTip 25: ‘Weekly tips, insights and updates’ - ways to keep up with Power Platform news every week.

🔸 #PowerPlatformTip 1: ‘Explore Community Resources’ and #PowerPlatformTip 60: ‘Power Platform Challenges’ - community resources and practice challenges.