Study guide · Exam overview
The format, passing score, and four content domains of the AWS Certified Developer – Associate exam, plus the application choices worth practicing before you book DVA-C02.
Exam version notice: This overview follows the AWS Certified Developer – Associate Exam Guide (DVA-C02), version 2.1, published December 12, 2024. DVA-C02 is the exam you can take now. The last day to take it is November 30, 2026. AWS has announced DVA-C03, with registration opening on October 27, 2026 and general availability on December 1, 2026. The detailed DVA-C03 task list was not published when these notes were reviewed, so this path stays on version 2.1. Domain weights are 32%, 26%, 24%, and 18%, and the third domain is named Deployment. Pricing, languages, and delivery options can change. Confirm them on the AWS certification site before you register. Items tagged Extra are useful context the guide places out of scope, including emerging AI topics that version 2.1 says do not affect your score. If core service names are still new, start with the Cloud Practitioner overview.
DVA-C02 checks whether you can develop, test, deploy, and debug an application on AWS. The exam guide describes the target candidate as someone with at least one year of hands-on experience developing and maintaining applications on AWS, and proficiency in at least one high-level programming language. The work is to write code that calls AWS, keep secrets and data locked down, ship the artifact through an existing pipeline, and explain a failure from logs, metrics, and traces.
A question usually gives a constraint: a function that must reach a private database, a key that must not live in source control, a release that must shift only a little traffic first, or a card number that must not land in a log. Two options often both “work.” The better answer is the one that meets the constraint with the least extra moving parts. Read the noun the stem cares about: how the code runs, who may call it, how it is released, or which signal proves the fault.
The target candidate is not expected to design architectures, design and create CI/CD pipelines, administer IAM users and groups, administer servers, or design VPC networks. You are expected to use an existing pipeline, attach a function to a VPC, and secure the data the code handles. Version 2.1 lists broader AI assistance, beyond Amazon Q Developer, as emerging pretest topics that do not affect your score. Architecture-wide design questions belong on the Solutions Architect path.
Figures below come from the AWS Certified Developer – Associate Exam Guide (DVA-C02), version 2.1, reviewed in October 2026.
| Specification | DVA-C02 |
|---|---|
| Level | Associate. There is no required prerequisite certification. |
| Number of questions | 65. Fifty affect your score. Fifteen are unscored and are not identified on the exam. |
| Question types | Multiple choice (one correct answer and three distractors) and multiple response (two or more correct answers out of five or more options). |
| Length of test | 130 minutes. AWS offers an additional 30 minutes for eligible non-native English speakers who request the ESL accommodation before they register. |
| Passing score | 720 on a scaled range of 100–1,000. Scoring is compensatory: you pass the exam as a whole, not each domain. |
| Recommended experience | 1 or more years developing and maintaining applications on AWS, plus proficiency in at least one high-level programming language. |
| Exam price | Associate exams are listed at 150 USD. Taxes and local-currency prices can differ. Confirm the current fee before you book. |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE, at a test center or with online proctoring, in the languages listed on the AWS certification page. |
| Validity | Three years. Confirm the current recertification options with AWS. |
Unanswered questions are scored as incorrect. There is no penalty for guessing, so answer every question. A scaled score of 720 is not the same thing as 72 percent of the questions. The exam uses official short names, and the in-exam Help lists the matching full service names. Version 2.1 also lists emerging AI topics, such as broader AI security and AI help in CI/CD or troubleshooting, as pretest items that do not affect your score. Amazon Q Developer itself is an in-scope skill for code help and generated tests.
These percentages are the share of scored content in exam guide version 2.1. The 200 practice questions on this site follow the same weights.
The largest domain. Write the application, including code Amazon Q Developer helps you draft.
Who can call the API, how the data is encrypted, and which fields must stay out of the log.
Package the artifact, test it, and release it without a big-bang cutover.
Find the slow or failed hop, then change the smallest setting that fixes it.
Learn the in-scope services from exam guide version 2.1. The same map is in the core notes and flashcards.
| Application need | Prefer | Remember |
|---|---|---|
| Run a short function on an event | AWS Lambda | The timeout ceiling is 15 minutes. A long batch job belongs on another compute option. |
| Hold work for one consumer | Amazon SQS | SNS fans a message out. EventBridge matches events to rules. Step Functions orders the steps. |
| HTTP API in front of code | Amazon API Gateway | Stages separate test from production. A stage variable is configuration, not a second API. |
| Key lookup at high request rates | Amazon DynamoDB | Query uses the key. Scan reads widely. A hot partition key is a design bug, not a cache problem. |
| Repeat the same read | Amazon ElastiCache or DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) | DAX is the DynamoDB cache. ElastiCache is the general cache the application talks to. |
| Temporary credentials for code | An IAM role through AWS STS | A long-term access key in source code is the pattern to retire. Cognito identity pools also vend temporary credentials. |
| Sign users in and issue tokens | Amazon Cognito user pools | Identity pools are the credential exchange. They are not the user directory. |
| Rotate a database password | AWS Secrets Manager | Read the secret at runtime. Parameter Store can hold a value. Rotation is the Secrets Manager job. |
| Encrypt an object or a payload | AWS KMS | Client-side encryption happens before upload. Server-side encryption happens after AWS receives the bytes. |
| Release with a small first share of traffic | A canary or a weighted Lambda alias | Blue/green keeps the old environment and shifts traffic. Rolling updates instances in batches. |
| Store and run a container image | Amazon ECR, then ECS, EKS, or Fargate | ECR stores the image. Fargate runs it without EC2 instances you manage. EKS is managed Kubernetes. |
| Follow one request across services | AWS X-Ray | CloudWatch Logs is what the code printed. CloudTrail is who called the AWS API. |
| Handle a stream | Amazon Kinesis | Kinesis Data Streams keeps a replayable log. Kinesis Data Firehose buffers and delivers onward, for example to Amazon S3. |
| Draft code or a test | Amazon Q Developer | Version 2.1 names it for development help and generated tests. You still review the diff before you merge. |
| Extra Design the VPC or the pipeline | Leave the design to the architect path | Using a subnet, a security group, or an existing pipeline is in scope. Designing the network or creating the pipeline from scratch is not. |
| Extra Broader AI topics | Treat them as unscored | Version 2.1 lists AI security, AI help in CI/CD, and AI troubleshooting suggestions as emerging pretest items. They do not affect the DVA-C02 score. |
| Extra Amazon CodeGuru | Amazon Q Developer | Version 2.1 removed CodeGuru from the in-scope list and added Amazon Q Developer. |
Multiple choice has one correct response and three distractors. Multiple response has two or more correct responses out of five or more options. The stem tells you how many to choose. Select every response that completes the statement, and nothing extra.
Distractors are real services that solve a nearby problem. If the need is “one worker later,” SNS is the nearby wrong answer because it fans out. If the need is “temporary credentials,” a long-term access key is the nearby wrong answer because it does not expire on its own. If the need is “hide a secret in a log,” a wider IAM policy does not change what the log line contains.
Words such as MOST, BEST, and LEAST are the constraint. MOST cost-effective still has to meet the latency number in the stem. LEAST operational overhead usually means a managed service. There is no published penalty for a wrong guess. A blank answer is incorrect.
A practical sequence once you can already call an AWS API from code.
Say whether the call waits, returns later, fans out, or follows a state machine. The service follows that sentence.
Use a role, a token, and Secrets Manager. Then decide what must be encrypted before it leaves the process, and what must never be logged.
Zip or image, stage or alias, then a canary or blue/green shift. Roll back by moving the pointer, not by editing production by hand.
Logs, metrics, and one trace should name the slow hop. Memory, concurrency, and a cache are the usual levers after that.
Use it for a first draft or a generated test, then check the key lookup, the logs, and the secret handling yourself. Broader AI topics in version 2.1 are unscored.
Use the four flashcard decks, then the original questions at about two minutes each. Review every explanation and return to domains below 75 percent. Aim for a steady 85 percent before you book. The last day to take DVA-C02 is November 30, 2026.
The overview, core notes, flashcards, and practice exams are all published.
Exam format, the 720 passing score, domain weights, and a study plan.
Reference notes for services, security, deployment, and troubleshooting.
40 recall cards in four decks, plus memory notes for messaging, credentials, and traces.
200 original questions with custom exams, explanations, and a score report by domain.
The exam you can take now is DVA-C02. AWS has announced DVA-C03, with registration opening on October 27, 2026 and general availability on December 1, 2026. The last day to take DVA-C02 is November 30, 2026. This overview follows the AWS Certified Developer – Associate Exam Guide (DVA-C02), version 2.1, published December 12, 2024. Confirm the code on the AWS certification page before you book.
Results use a scaled score from 100 to 1,000. The minimum passing score is 720. You do not need a passing score in every domain. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly.
The exam has 65 questions and a 130-minute time limit. Fifty questions affect your score. Fifteen are unscored and are not labeled. Question types are multiple choice and multiple response.
There is no required prerequisite certification. AWS describes the DVA-C02 candidate as someone with 1 or more years of hands-on experience developing and maintaining applications on AWS, and proficiency in at least one high-level programming language.
Study DVA-C02 if you will sit the exam by November 30, 2026. DVA-C03 registration opens on October 27, 2026, and the detailed task list was not published when these notes were reviewed. A credential you earn on DVA-C02 stays valid through its original expiration date.
AWS certifications are valid for three years. Recertification options can change, so confirm the current policy with AWS before your expiration date.
No. The practice questions on this site are original. They are not AWS exam items, and a practice score does not predict a result.
Service names and prices change. Use the current AWS exam guide and the AWS certification site as the authority when they differ from these notes.
Useful companions while you study.
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Exam versions, objectives, prices, languages, and retirement dates can change. Verify the details on the AWS certification page before you register.
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