AWS DVA-C02 Study Guide
Goal: follow an actionable plan to pass AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C02).
Exam Overview
- Duration: 130 minutes
- Question types: multiple choice / multiple response
- Focus areas: development, deployment, monitoring, identity and access, best practices
Domain Map
- Deployment
- CodeDeploy / CodePipeline / CodeBuild
- Blue/Green and rolling deployments
- Security
- IAM policy boundaries, STS, role assumption
- KMS, Secrets Manager, Parameter Store
- Development with AWS Services
- Lambda / API Gateway / DynamoDB / SQS / SNS
- SDK retries, signing, pagination
- Troubleshooting and Optimization
- CloudWatch / X-Ray
- Latency and error investigation patterns
4-Week Plan
Week 1: Core Services + Security
- IAM, STS, KMS
- Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB
- 20 practice questions per day, log mistakes
Week 2: CI/CD and Deployment
- CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy
- Elastic Beanstalk
- Understand deployment strategies and rollback
Week 3: Messaging and Event-Driven
- SQS, SNS, EventBridge
- Step Functions
- Lambda triggers and retry behavior
Week 4: Full Reviews
- 2-3 mock exams
- Review weak areas and mistakes
High-Frequency Topics
- DynamoDB keys, RCU/WCU, GSI/LSI
- Lambda triggers, concurrency, cold starts
- API Gateway auth (IAM/Cognito/custom)
- SQS FIFO vs Standard
- KMS vs Secrets Manager vs Parameter Store
- CloudWatch Metrics/Logs/Alarms
- X-Ray traces and service map
Study Resources
- Official exam guide and sample questions
- Hands-on labs: 30-60 minutes daily
- Use question banks to find gaps, not just to grind
Practical Tips
- Turn common errors and retry rules into flash cards
- For each wrong answer, note the correct service or config
- Build one small serverless project (API Gateway + Lambda + DynamoDB)
Final 48 Hours
- Stop new questions; review your error log
- Revisit IAM, DynamoDB, Lambda, API Gateway
- Sleep well and simulate exam timing
Wrap-up
DVA-C02 rewards practical understanding over memorization. Stick to the plan, and you will be fine.
AWS DVA-C02 Study Guide
https://jiarus.github.io/2026/03/01/Cloud-2026-03-01-aws-dva-c02-prep/