How I Passed the AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam
As a full-stack developer, I know how important it is to have a broad set of skills that can adapt to different project demands. Being able to build and deploy applications in the cloud is increasingly essential, and there‘s no bigger name in cloud computing than Amazon Web Services (AWS).
That‘s why I decided to pursue the AWS Certified Developer Associate certification. It‘s a rigorous exam that tests your ability to develop, deploy, and debug applications using core AWS services. Passing it validates your skills and can open up exciting new career opportunities.
In this article, I‘ll share my journey to earning the certification, including:
- The study plan I followed
- Key concepts and services to focus on
- Tips and lessons learned along the way
- How to keep growing your AWS skills after the exam
Whether you‘re a seasoned developer looking to expand your toolkit or just getting started with AWS, I hope this guide provides a practical roadmap to achieving one of the most valuable certifications in the industry.
Understand the Exam Format and Topics
The first step in any certification journey is to know what you‘re getting into. The AWS Certified Developer Associate page provides a good overview of the exam format and the skills it validates:
- 130 minutes to complete 65 questions
- Multiple-choice and multiple-response questions
- Focuses on your ability to develop, deploy, and debug cloud-based applications using AWS
- Tests your understanding of core services, uses cases, and best practices for development on AWS
- Assumes 1+ years of hands-on experience developing and maintaining AWS-based applications
Digging deeper, the exam guide breaks down the specific topic areas and their relative weight on the exam:
| Domain | % of Exam |
|---|---|
| Deployment | 22% |
| Security | 26% |
| Development with AWS Services | 30% |
| Refactoring | 10% |
| Monitoring and Troubleshooting | 12% |
As you can see, development with specific AWS services is the biggest component, but security and deployment are also heavily emphasized. To pass, you really need a comprehensive understanding of how to build and run secure, robust applications in the AWS ecosystem.
Master the Core AWS Services
Studying for this exam can feel overwhelming at times. AWS has over 200 different services, and the exam covers a pretty wide subset of them. How can you possibly learn them all?
The key is to focus your studies on the core services that come up most frequently and have the greatest impact on application development. Based on my experience and research, I recommend prioritizing the following:
Compute
- EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud): Virtual servers in the cloud
- Lambda: Serverless functions
- Elastic Beanstalk: Easy-to-use service for deploying and scaling web applications
Storage
- S3 (Simple Storage Service): Object storage for images, videos, static websites, etc.
- EBS (Elastic Block Store): Persistent block storage for EC2 instances
- EFS (Elastic File System): Scalable file storage for EC2 instances
Database
- RDS (Relational Database Service): Managed relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL
- DynamoDB: Managed NoSQL database
- ElastiCache: In-memory caching service
Networking & Content Delivery
- VPC (Virtual Private Cloud): Isolated section of the AWS cloud for your resources
- CloudFront: Content delivery network (CDN) for caching content at edge locations
- API Gateway: Fully managed service for creating, publishing, and securing APIs
Management & Governance
- IAM (Identity and Access Management): Manage users and their access to AWS services
- CloudWatch: Monitor resources and applications, set alarms, collect logs
- CloudFormation: Define and provision AWS infrastructure using code
Application Integration
- SNS (Simple Notification Service): Publish/subscribe messaging service
- SQS (Simple Queue Service): Message queues for decoupling and scaling microservices
Of course, there are many other important services covered on the exam like CloudTrail, X-Ray, CodeCommit, CodeDeploy, etc. But if you can develop a deep understanding of the core services above, you‘ll have a strong foundation to build on.
Get Hands-On Experience
Studying theory and best practices is important, but the AWS Certified Developer exam is really designed to test your practical skills. To pass, you need in-depth, hands-on experience with developing, deploying, and debugging real applications on AWS.
When I was preparing for the exam, I found hands-on labs and projects to be the most effective way to really internalize the key concepts and develop useful muscle memory. I recommend choosing a mix of guided labs (like the ones in A Cloud Guru courses) and self-directed projects to get experience with different services and scenarios.
Some good project ideas:
- Deploy a web application using Elastic Beanstalk
- Set up a serverless API with API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB
- Configure a CI/CD pipeline with CodePipeline and CodeDeploy
- Implement a file sharing service with S3, CloudFront, and IAM
- Refactor a monolithic application into microservices using ECS or EKS
These kinds of projects will give you practical experience with key AWS services while also reinforcing best practices around security, monitoring, performance, and cost optimization.
Another benefit of doing hands-on projects is that they often surface gaps in your knowledge that passive studying won‘t uncover. Getting stuck and working through errors is part of the learning process. I often find that the things I struggle with most end up being my biggest opportunities for growth.
Focus Your Studies with Practice Exams
Once you have a decent grasp of the core AWS services and some hands-on experience under your belt, practice exams are a great way to focus your studies and get comfortable with the actual exam format.
I used the practice exams from Tutorials Dojo and Neal Davis during my prep. Both of these are highly rated by the AWS community and do an excellent job of mimicking the style and difficulty of the real exam.
Here are my results from the Tutorials Dojo practice exams:
| Exam | Score |
|---|---|
| TD1 | 72% |
| TD2 | 68% |
| TD3 | 76% |
| TD4 | 82% |
| TD5 | 85% |
| TD6 | 87% |
As you can see, I started in the low 70% range but was able to consistently improve my scores into the mid-80s. This was a huge confidence boost heading into the real exam.
One key to making the practice exams effective is to carefully review every question you get wrong and understand why the correct answer is correct. It‘s not enough to just memorize the right answers; you need to deeply understand the underlying concepts and scenarios.
With the Tutorials Dojo exams, I loved that each question includes detailed explanations along with links to relevant AWS documentation for further study. I made flashcards for key services and concepts that I missed and reviewed them periodically to reinforce my weak spots.
Another good strategy is to do timed practice exams in one sitting to build your mental endurance. The real AWS exam is 130 minutes long, which can be quite grueling. Taking full-length, timed practice tests will help you gauge your pacing and give you a feel for the sustained focus required on exam day.
Schedule Your Exam
When you‘re consistently scoring 80%+ on practice exams and feel confident in your grasp of the material, it‘s time to schedule your exam. Scheduling is done through Pearson VUE, and you have the option of taking the exam at a local testing center or online with a proctor.
Personally, I chose the online proctored exam for convenience and flexibility. However, there are a few extra steps and requirements to be aware of:
- You need a private, quiet space where you won‘t be interrupted
- Your computer must have a webcam and microphone
- You need to do a system test before the exam to ensure your setup meets the technical requirements
- You must show your desk and surroundings to the proctor during the check-in process
It‘s a bit more involved than just showing up to a testing center, but I found the online process to be smooth overall. Just be sure to start the check-in process 30 minutes before your exam time to leave plenty of buffer.
During the exam, I had 130 minutes to complete 65 questions. Time management is crucial, so I recommend doing a first pass through the questions, answering the ones you‘re confident about and flagging the ones you‘re unsure of. Then you can come back and spend more time on the flagged questions.
I ended up finishing my first pass with about 30 minutes to spare, which gave me time to double-check my answers and work through the problems I initially skipped. I was even able to complete the exam with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Thankfully, with all the practice and preparation I‘d done, I felt pretty confident about my performance. The actual exam questions were very much in line with what I‘d seen on the practice tests – a mix of high-level concepts, specific service features, and scenario-based application design problems.
Keep Sharpening Your Skills
Passing the AWS Certified Developer Associate exam was a huge milestone for me, but it‘s really just the beginning of mastering AWS and growing as a cloud developer. In the rapidly evolving world of cloud computing, continuous learning is essential to stay relevant and marketable.
Some ways I‘m keeping my skills sharp after the exam:
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Doing more advanced AWS projects. Now that I have a solid grasp of the core services, I‘m diving into more niche and specialized areas like machine learning, serverless, and IoT.
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Pursuing the next level AWS certifications. I‘m currently studying for the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional exam, which covers advanced CI/CD and infrastructure as code practices.
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Staying up to date with new AWS releases and best practices. I follow the official AWS blogs and newsletters to stay on top of service updates, new features, and emerging design patterns. The AWS What‘s New and AWS Compute Blog are great resources.
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Networking with other AWS developers. I regularly attend my local AWS User Group meetups to learn from and collaborate with other AWS enthusiasts. The AWS online communities on Reddit, Stack Overflow, and the official forums are also treasure troves of knowledge.
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Sharing my knowledge with others. I find that teaching and writing about AWS helps reinforce my own understanding. I started a blog to share tutorials, best practices, and lessons learned from my AWS projects.
The beautiful thing about the cloud is that there‘s always more to learn and explore. As a full-stack developer, growing my AWS skills has made me a more well-rounded and valuable team member. I‘m able to contribute to architectural discussions, build more resilient and scalable applications, and mentor other developers who are just getting started with AWS.
You‘ve Got This!
If you‘re considering pursuing the AWS Certified Developer Associate certification, I wholeheartedly encourage you to go for it. It‘s a challenging and rewarding journey that will uplevel your skills and open up exciting new opportunities in your career.
To recap, here‘s the high-level roadmap I recommend:
- Familiarize yourself with the exam format and topic areas
- Study the core AWS services in-depth, focusing on those most relevant to development
- Get hands-on experience with guided labs and real-world projects
- Take practice exams to identify weak spots and build stamina
- Schedule your exam when you‘re consistently scoring 80%+ on practice tests
- Continue sharpening your skills and knowledge after passing the exam
Remember, everyone‘s path to certification is different. It took me about 3 months of consistent study and practice to feel fully prepared, but your timeline may vary. The key is to put in the time and effort, trust the process, and believe in yourself.
You‘ve got this! Passing the AWS Certified Developer Associate exam is an achievable goal that will pay dividends for your career. So start your journey today – your future self will thank you.