Developer or Solutions Architect Associate first?

Solutions Architect is broader and more requested. Choose Developer if you write application code on AWS and want to prove cloud-native skills.

How much coding does it require?

You should be comfortable reading code and understand how apps call AWS services. It is not a coding test, but development experience helps a lot.

Is DynamoDB heavily tested?

Yes. Know partition and sort keys, indexes, capacity modes and common access patterns.

Study guide

AWS Developer – Associate (DVA-C02): Study Guide

By The Exam Atlas Editorial Team · Verified 2026-05-29

A suggested study plan

Weeks 1–3	Development with AWS services: Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, S3 and the SDK
Weeks 4–5	Security: IAM, Cognito, KMS, Secrets Manager and encryption in apps
Weeks 6–7	Deployment: CI/CD with CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy; SAM and CloudFormation
Weeks 8–9	Troubleshooting and optimisation; then full-length timed reviews

The AWS Developer Associate (DVA-C02) validates that you can build, deploy and debug cloud-native applications on AWS. It leans heavily on serverless (Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB), security in code (IAM, Cognito, KMS), and automated deployment (CI/CD). The fastest way to prepare is to build a small serverless app yourself. This guide is study guidance only, with no real or simulated exam questions.

The four domains, and how to study each

1. Development with AWS Services (32%)

The largest domain. Writing applications that use Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, S3 and the AWS SDK, including event-driven and serverless patterns. Build something small end-to-end.

2. Security (26%)

IAM roles and policies for applications, user authentication with Cognito, encryption with KMS, and secrets management. The recurring theme is least privilege and never hard-coding credentials.

3. Deployment (24%)

CI/CD with CodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy and CodePipeline, plus infrastructure as code with SAM and CloudFormation. Know which service does what in a release pipeline.

4. Troubleshooting and Optimization (18%)

Debugging with CloudWatch and X-Ray, error handling, retries with exponential backoff, idempotency, and performance tuning. Expect scenario questions about why something fails.

How to prepare

Build a serverless application (an API backed by Lambda and DynamoDB) and deploy it with a pipeline. That single project touches most of the exam. Avoid “exam dump” sites — they breach AWS policy and copyright.

Key concepts to master

Serverless-first: Lambda, API Gateway and DynamoDB are central; know how they fit together.
IAM roles for code: Applications assume roles for least-privilege access; avoid hard-coded keys.
Decoupling: SQS (queues) and SNS (pub/sub) for resilient, asynchronous designs.
CI/CD pipeline: CodeCommit/CodeBuild/CodeDeploy/CodePipeline automate build and release.
Error handling and retries: Exponential backoff, idempotency, and DynamoDB/Lambda error patterns.

Common mistakes to avoid

Studying without writing or reading code; the exam assumes developer experience.
Neglecting security (IAM, Cognito, KMS), a quarter of the exam.
Confusing deployment services (CodeDeploy vs CloudFormation vs SAM).
Ignoring DynamoDB specifics (keys, indexes, capacity), which appear often.

Free study resources

FAQ

Developer or Solutions Architect Associate first?: Solutions Architect is broader and more requested. Choose Developer if you write application code on AWS and want to prove cloud-native skills.
How much coding does it require?: You should be comfortable reading code and understand how apps call AWS services. It is not a coding test, but development experience helps a lot.
Is DynamoDB heavily tested?: Yes. Know partition and sort keys, indexes, capacity modes and common access patterns.

Sources

AWS — Developer Associate ↗