AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02)
Develop, test, deploy, and debug cloud-based applications using AWS services, AWS SDKs, serverless architectures with Lambda and API Gateway, CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and DynamoDB.
Official Exam Specification & Quick Facts
Question Difficulty Breakdown
Recommended Study Guides & Exam Preparation Blueprints
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Exam Guidelines & Simulation Rules
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The DVA-C02 exam contains 65 multiple-choice and multiple-response questions over 130 minutes. Cost is $150 USD with a passing threshold of 720/1000 (72%).
Domains include: (1) Development with AWS Services (~32%), (2) Security (~26%), (3) Deployment (~24%), and (4) Troubleshooting and Optimization (~18%).
AWS Lambda executes code in response to events, automatically managing compute resources. Billing is calculated based on the number of requests and duration (milliseconds of compute consumed).
API Gateway is a managed service for creating, publishing, maintaining, and securing REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs at scale. It supports Edge-optimized, Regional, and Private endpoints.
Optimistic locking uses a version attribute (`version_id`) and conditional writes (`attribute_exists()` or `version = :expected_version`) to ensure an item is only updated if another client hasn't modified it.
AWS X-Ray provides distributed tracing across microservices, generating service maps and trace timelines that pinpoint high-latency database queries, downstream API calls, or exceptions.
CodeDeploy supports AllAtOnce, HalfAtATime, and OneAtATime for EC2/on-premises, and Canary (e.g. Canary10Percent5Minutes) or Linear (Linear10PercentEvery1Minute) for Lambda and ECS.
AWS SAM is an open-source framework and CLI for building serverless applications. It uses simplified shorthand YAML syntax extending CloudFormation to define functions, APIs, and tables.
A DLQ isolates messages that cannot be successfully processed after a configured `maxReceiveCount`, preventing poisonous messages from blocking the main queue and enabling debugging.
Cognito User Pools provide user directories for sign-up, sign-in, and profile management (issuing JWT tokens). Cognito Identity Pools (Federated Identities) exchange tokens for temporary AWS IAM credentials.
The DVA-C02 credential is valid for three years from the pass date and can be renewed by retaking DVA-C02 or passing DOP-C02.
DVA-C02 certifies Cloud Application Developers, Backend Software Engineers, and Full-Stack Cloud Specialists earning average US salaries between $125,000 and $165,000.