AWS Developer Associate Certification Training

This exam is for professionals who are working in a development role. For this exam, at least one year of working experience in developing and maintaining an application on the AWS platform is recommended. With this certification, you will be able to validate and demonstrate your knowledge and skills in AWS services, basic architectural practices of AWS, and their uses. Also, you will be demonstrating proficiency in developing, debugging, and deploying applications on the AWS cloud. To prepare for this exam, you must have relevant training and additional skills and knowledge. There is an exam guide with all the information regarding the competencies tested in the exam. 

The exam is for all the individuals working as Developers, Solutions Architects, SysOps Administrators or any position that involves using the AWS services. Basically, they must have the following experience and knowledge: 

• One or more high-level programming languages 
• AWS services, AWS architectural practices, and their uses 
• Develop, debug, and deploy cloud-based applications on the AWS platform 
• AWS service APIs, SDKs, and AWS CLI for writing applications 
• Identifying key features of the services provided by AWS 
• AWS shared responsibility model 
• Application lifecycle management 
• Deploying applications using the CI/CD pipeline 
• Interacting with the AWS services 
• Using security practices of AWS for writing code 
• Writing code for serverless applications 
• Using containers in the development process 
  
  

To appear for the certification exam, a candidate must satisfy the following eligibility requirements: 

• At least 1 year of hands-on experience designing and maintaining cloud applications on AWS. 
• Knowledge of AWS services, AWS architectural practices, and their uses. 
• One or more high-level programming language. 
• Proficiency in designing, developing, and deploying cloud-based applications on the AWS platform. 
• Developing and maintaining applications created for Amazon S3, SQS, SWS, SNS, DynamoDB, CloudFormation, and Elastic Beanstalk. 

The certification path is for developers wanting to learn developing cloud applications on the AWS platform. Along the way, you will be building your technical skills and progress with the recommended courses and exams. 

Step 1: The first step towards this path is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exams or AWS Technical Essentials. For AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification, you must have the skills and knowledge required for demonstrating an understanding of the AWS Cloud. This certification is independent of the specific technical roles as required by the other AWS certifications. Even though it is not compulsory, it is highly recommended for any associate level certification.  

AWS Technical Essentials course is one where you will be learning about the services, products and the common solutions offered by the AWS. You will be learning how to identify the right AWS service for making an informed decision depending on your business requirements. This course covers the concepts and terminologies of the AWS, navigating through the AWS Management Console, and the core concepts of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) and AWS security measures. 

Step 2: The next step in the certification path is the Developing on AWS course where you will be learning how to use AWS SDK for developing scalable and secure cloud applications. You will be interacting with AWS through code.  

The objectives of the course: is to help you learn setting up AWS SDK and developers credentials for python, java, .Net, C#, and JavaScript, interacting with AWS services and using AWS SDK for developing solutions, authenticating service using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), using Amazon DynamoDB and S3 as data stores, integrating data and applications using AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, Amazon SQS, SNS, and API Gateway, authenticating users with Amazon Cognito and Web Identity Framework, etc. 

Step 3: Next comes the Exam Readiness course.This is 4 hours long, intermediate-level course where you will be preparing for the certification through exploration of the topics and mapping them to development on AWS. You can review the sample questions and learn the interpretation of concepts tested by the questions for eliminating the incorrect responses. The objective of the course is to help you with understanding the question types and structure of the exam, allocating time to study, interpreting the concepts, and identifying questions related to development concepts of AWS. 

Final Step: Once you are done with all the courses, you can move on to the last step which is giving the AWS Certified Developer- Associate exam. After you pass the exam, you will have become an AWS Certified Developer.  

The exam is for all the professionals who are working in a development role. With this certification, you will be able to validate your knowledge of AWS services, AWS architectural practices, and their uses. Also, you will be able to demonstrate proficiency in development, debugging, and deployment of applications on the AWS platform.
 

The recommended experience and knowledge for the exam is: 

• Proficiency in one or more high level programming languages 
• Knowledge of AWS services, AWS architecture practices, and their uses 
• Expertise in development, debugging, and deployment of applications on the AWS platform 
• Writing applications using AWS service APIs, SDKs, and AWS CLI 
• Identifying features of the AWS services 
• Understanding the shared responsibility model of AWS 
• Understanding the lifecycle management of the application 
• Deploying applications on AWS using a CI/CD pipeline 
• Using or interacting with AWS services 
• Understanding cloud-native applications for writing code 
• Using AWS security practices for writing code 
• Authoring, maintaining, and debugging code modules on AWS 
• Proficiency in writing code for serverless applications 
• Using containers during the development process 
  
  

Now, to prepare for the exam, there are several resources available online for free. It is very important that you understand all the different services. This certificate will also act as a foundation for higher-level certifications. So, it is important that you focus on all key concepts. An issue that almost all the candidates face is an inability to retain all the information. The sure way of doing this is by doing. There are several topics like debugging errors, size of storage, etc. that you need to be familiar with. If your course doesn’t offer a lab, you won’t be able to visualize the concepts. 

Another way to retain the information is by taking as many practice tests as possible. This will help in solidifying and reinforcing all the topics that you studied. Even if you are confident that you have retained everything that you studied, exam questions will help you get an understanding of how the questions are worded.  

Amazon updates the exam from time to time. So, it is important that whatever course you are studying from has updated content. Here is a list of topics that you should expect to see in your exam: 

• S3, EC2, and DynamoDB 
• SQS working with message delivery and visibility timeouts 
• Optimizing S3 and DynamoDB queries for performance 
• Local/global secondary indexes, Dynamo partition keys 
• Encryption and S3 CORS 
• Languages compatible with specific services 
• SQS max/min timeouts 
• IAM users, roles, groups, and inline policies 
• Different models to restrict access to resources 
• VPCs, routing tables, NAT gateways, and subnets 
• HTTP error codes 
• AWS infrastructure 
• Launch and encryption of EC2 instances 
• Using Web Identity Federation and LDAP for authentication 
  
  

You should focus on passing the exam in your first attempt. For this, you should try dividing the course into a few sections like: 

• Introduction 
• How to get started with AWS 
• Core services of AWS 
• Using Command Line Interface 
• Serverless 
• Security 
• Developer and CI/CD tools 
• Additional key services 
  
  

Here are a few tips that will help you get prepared for the exam: 

• Figure out the time you need to prepare for the exam and schedule the exam accordingly. This time should be at least 2 months. 
• Take notes while studying for memorizing it and revising it later. 
• Learn all the important API calls queries to S3 and DynamoDB. 
• Go through the FAQ section for all the major AWS services. 
• Try sample questions and take practice tests. 
• Read forums discussing the exam to get a view of what others went through during the exam and recommendation on topics you should focus on. 
• On the night before the exam, get a good 8 hours of sleep. 

To pass the exam, you need to have skills to develop and maintain applications on the AWS platform. You must be able to write code that will be using AWS software for accessing AWS applications. While preparing for the exam, you need to cover the following topics: 

• Core AWS services 
• Basic AWS architecture 
• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain applications 
• AWS databases, storage services, notifications, change management services, and workflow services. 
  
  

To get a complete understanding of all the above domains, you will need at least 2-3 months. 

It is recommended to gain hands on experience with relevant AWS tools and services before you take the AWS certification exam. You can refer to the following resources for your reference purpose and gain some help for your preparation for the certification. 

• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner examination is targeted for individuals who possess the skills and knowledge required to successfully and effectively demonstrate an understanding of the AWS Cloud, independent of any other specific technical roles. Though it is optional and depends on the choice of the candidate, but it is recommended as an effective step towards gaining an Associate level or specialty certification. You can refer to the following link for your preparation:  
  
  

You can take up the Cloud Practitioner practice test for 20 USD. 

• Associate level AWS certification: The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate examination is targeted for individuals having hands on experience in using compute, networking, storage, and AWS database services. Visit the following link to download Solutions Architect Associate sample questions. 

You can also download and refer Solutions Architect exam guide provided on this page. You can visit the AWS classroom training program in order to enhance your experience. 

You can also take up AWS Solutions Architect Associate practice test. 

• AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam: The Exam is specialized for individuals who have one or more years of experience in development role and understands core AWS services, uses and basic AWS architecture. You can find AWS Developer Practice Test and exam guide 
  
  

You can access the various whitepapers written by the AWS team, independent analysts and AWS partners to broaden your technical experience. 

For scheduling the exam, follow the below mentioned steps: 

• Sign in to your AWS account at aws.training. 
• In the top navigation, select Certification. 
• Next, select the AWS Certification Account button. 
• After this, click on Schedule New Exam. 
• Find the AWS Certified Developer - Associate exam. 
• Then, select either the Schedule at Pearson VUE or Schedule at PSI button. 
• After this, you will be redirected to the scheduling page of the provider. This is where you will be booking the exam appointment. 

The exam for professionals who are working as a developer. With this certification, you will be able to validate the following skills: 

• Understanding of core services of AWS and their uses as well as the best architectural practices. 
• Proficiency in development, debugging, and deployment of cloud-based applications on the AWS platform. 
  
  

This is an associate level, multiple choice & multiple answer examination. The delivery method is testing center where you will be allotted 130 minutes.  

The exam costs 150 USD and is available in English, Korean, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. 

The exam will contain 2 types of questions: 

• Multiple responses- where two or more out of 5 or more options are correct. 
• Multiple choices- where there is one right response and three distractors 
  
  

You need to choose the responses that answer the question or best completes the sentence. Unanswered questions will be graded as incorrect. There is no negative marking for incorrect responses. 

In the examination, there might be some non-scored questions that are asked for the purpose of gathering statistical information. 

Here is a table displaying the different domains and their weightage covered in the exam: 

Now, let's discuss the subtopics covered in each domain: 

• Development with AWS Services 
  • Writing code for serverless applications 
  • Functional requirements are transformed into application design 
  • Application design is implemented into application code 
  • Writing code that uses services like APIs, AWS CLI and SDKs for interacting with AWS services 
    
    
• Security 
  • Making authenticated calls to the services of AWS 
  • Using AWS services for implementing authentication 
  • Implementing application authorization and authentication 
  • 
    
• Deployment 
  • Using CI/CD pipelines, patterns, and processes for deploying written code on the AWS platform 
  • Using Elastic Beanstalk for deploying applications 
  • Deploying serverless applications 
  • Preparing the deployment package of application that needs to be deployed on the AWS platform 
  • 
    
• Monitoring and Troubleshooting 
  • Writing code that can be easily monitored 
  • Performing root analysis on faults found in production or testing 
    
    
• Refactoring 
  • Optimizing applications to make the most of the AWS features and services 
  • Migrating the code of an existing application to the AWS 

The cost of the exam is 150 USD. You can get a practice exam at just 20 USD. 

The Training involves the following: 

• Planning and deploying high available, scalable, and fault tolerant systems 
• Lifting and shifting on-premises applications in the cloud 
• Ingressing and egressing of data  
• Selecting the right AWS service based on compute, security, data, and database requirements 
• Establishing use of AWS best architectural practices 
• Assessing the costs of AWS and identifying mechanisms for cost control 
  
  

There are several organizations that provide AWS training. The cost of these courses can vary according to the type of training the organization is providing, the number of hours of training and the hands-on labs, as well as how thorough the course is. Some providers offer free tests for you to practice.There are also some training providers that require you to pay an annual or monthly fee and get access to all the courses.

KnowledgeHut offers a comprehensive course at Rs. 19999 (please check for discounts that may apply from time to time). 

The main topics covered in the exam include: 

• S3, EC2 and DynamoDB 
• SQS working with message delivery and visibility timeouts 
• Optimizing S3 and DynamoDB queries for performance 
• Global/local secondary indexes and Dynamo partition keys 
• Encryption and S3 CORS 
• languages that are compatible with certain services 
• SQS max/min timeouts, IAM users, roles, groups, and inline policies 
• Methods to restrict access to ACLs and policies 
• VPCs, routing tables, subnets and NAT Gateways 
• HTTP error codes 
• Authentication using Web Identity Federation and LDAP 
• Encrypting and launching EC2 instances 
• AWS infrastructure including regions, edge locations, and availability zones.
   

Now, let's discuss the topics and subtopics that have appeared in the previous examinations: 

1. Serverless 

• Lambda- Questions on lambda and how it can be used with other services. You need to cover the information regarding version, alias, SAM combination, and SAM and CodeDeploy combination.  
• SAM- You must also be familiar with the parameters used in the SAM code and what parameter does what in the YAML code. This is how lambda is used to solve complex architecture. 
  
  

2. KMS 

This includes details of encryption at rest and in transit. KMS is a popular topic in theexam. This includes: 

• Encrypting while transfer of data from Kinesis 
• Lambda function for processing data and encrypting it before it gets transferred to S3. 
• Default encryption for S3 
• Master key, data key. Envelope key, Generated data key, etc. 
  
  

3. DynamoDB 

For this exam, you must have a thorough understanding of DynamoDB. It includes the following: 

• WCU, RCU, and their calculations 
• Local and global secondary index 
• Query vs scan 
• DAX 
• DynamoDB TTL 
• Projection Expression 
• Using DynamoDB with ElasticCache like Memcached and Redis 
• DynamoDB with S3 and Lambda 
• Data fetching from DynamoDB 
• Queries related to the session of DynamoDB 
• Solving ProvisionedThroughputExceededException 
  
  

4. Elastic beanstalk 

You must understand why different ways of update is required all at once, immutable, rolling with batch, etc. It covers the following: 

• Combining Elastic Beanstalk with CloudFormation 
• Configuration in Elastic Beanstalk 
• Changing the type of instance 
• Saving RDS while deleting Elastic Beanstalk 
• Deployment of multiple application's version in Elastic Beanstalk 
  
  

5. CloudFormation 

Here are the subtopics it covers: 

• Parameters inside the template of CloudFormation 
• CloudFormation template in S3 
• Combination with CodeDeploy and Lambda 
• The correct version of lambda function used in CloudFormation 
  
  

6. CodDeploy, CodeBuild, CodeCommit, Code Pipeline 

This includes: 

• Complete understanding of configuration file of CodeDeploy 
• CodeDeploy errors and reverting to older version 
• Running order of hooks 
• Using CodeBuild along with SAM 
• Understanding the configuration file of CodeBuild and its parameters 
• Codepipeline for automating the process 
• Handling errors in Codepipeline 
  
  

7. SQS 

The following subtopics are covered in this: 

• Short and long polling 
• Visibility timeout 
• Using SQS with EC2 
• SQS to solve complicated scenarios 
• Standard queues and Fifo 
  
  

8. ElastiCache 

• Memcached and its use cases 
• Redis and its use cases 
• Using ElastiCache with RDS 
• Memcached vs Redis 
  
  

9. API Gateway 

• Multiple staging 
• Using API Gateways 
• API Gateways with CORS 
• Deployment of multiple stages 
• Using Lambda with API Gateway 
• Caching 
  
  

10. S3 

• Bucket policies 
• S3 optimization 
• Random prefix 
• Combining S3 with Kinesis 
• CloudFront TTL 
• CloudFront, CloudFront Edge 
•  11. EC2, Elastic Load Balancer, and Autoscaling 
• SSL on EC2 and ELB 
• Traffic diversion 
• Allowing traffic from EC2 and ELB 
• Health check 
• Combining them with Route53 
  
  

 12. Elastic Container Service 

• How to use it  
• Combining it with CodeDeploy 
• Docker images  
• Using EC2 instances for deploying ECS 
  
  

 13. IAM 

• IAM role 
• Attaching it with other resources 
• Using IAM roles in place of AccessKeys 
• IAM policy 
  
  

 14. Kinesis 

• Different kinesis options 
• Working of kinesis 
• Shards 
• Using S3 for data streaming 
• Using Kinesis with lambda to process streaming data 
• Move data to S3 
  
  

 15. AWS Cognito 

• Syncing data 
• Cognito steams, data, events, etc. 
  
  

 16. Route53 

• Routing policies 
• Health checks 
• Static website 
  
  

 17. CloudWatch, CloudTrail 

• Their capabilities 
• How to choose this service 
  
  

 18. AWS Parameter Store 

• Scenarios where you can use them  
• Combining them with other services 
  
  

19. Step Functions 

• How to use them 
• Solving complex architectures 
• Managing architectures easily 
  
  

20. RDS 

• Combining it with other services 
  
  

21. SNS 

• Combining it with other services 

Preparing for the AWS exams can be quite a difficult feat, especially when the syllabus is so extensive and constantly changing. Candidates are requested to check the latest curriculum online before they begin preparing for the exams.  

The exam curriculum is updated from time to time, so make sure that you are following the current syllabus to not miss out on any of the important topics and subjects covered in the exam. Topics related to cloud storage and database management are very crucial for applicants. However here are some of the topics that you need not fret about as they won’t appear in your paper; 
 

For instance, not a lot of questions are asked from networking and VPNs. Also, there aren’t any questions from the different AWS services. You can even rule out EC2 instance types, OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) vs OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) differences, and S3 storage gateways from your preparation.  

Cloud computing has become a major industry, helping both private and corporate sectors improve their productivity and visibility online. AWS, though not a full-fledged course is a great start for beginners who want to make a career in cloud computing.  

The increasing popularity of cloud-based spaces online, has led to an unprecedented rise in the demand for cloud developers and coders who can understand and execute these platforms. Managing cloud storage is not an easy job. You must be really into the subject, know about the latest technologies that are at play and have a sharp analytical bent of mind to work with huge volumes of data.  

This certification is perhaps one of the most coveted courses that candidates are applying for these days. The coursework covers a variety of cloud computation topics including subjects related to networking, web security, website development, data science, and database management. Here are the top 3 reasons why AWS is such a lucrative course. 

• Course is accessible and easy  

The courses are not very difficult if you have the basic technical knowledge of how cloud computation works. The course also covers a wide range of topics from machine learning, big data, online security, data virtualization and other areas. This makes it an easy ordeal for beginners and helps mid-level developers widen their scope and knowledge. The certification exam also is an affordable entry level course for people who want to build a solid career in the field of technology. 

• PayisHigh 

It is no hidden fact that cloud computation is a profitable field that is very much in demand these days due to its advanced technologies and user-friendly design. It covers the basic aspects and perks of the major IT industries, including fields like website development, online security, data science, big data, machine learning and others. This gives the developer an edge over his peers as he now has the experience and expertise of a vast range of sectors.  

With the certification, you can further improve your chances of getting a good offer from a big shot company. The course is credible, authentic and globally recognized.  

• Certified professional has a Bright Future  

The certification opens several avenues and industries that candidates can explore and experiment with. Cloud computing is no longer the domain of simply IT based companies, it is used in the medical sector, in hospitality, for ecommerce and multiple other areas.  

To verify your certificate, you should first have the certificate validation number which can be retrieved from the certificate holder. The certificate can also be verified from your AWS account where you can check the status of your course by clicking on the digital badge and being redirected to a page that displays your certificate’s current status.  

Simply enrolling for the AWS course is not enough, you need to be constantly checking for the status of the certification to see if it’s still valid or not. After completing exam, you can expect the results to be mailed to your email id. You can even check for the results via the registration number and validation id. Here is a step by step guide on how to retrieve and download your e-certificate. 

• You must first gain access to the digital badge which is located on the top corner of the navigation panel of the AWS registration profile. 
• By clicking on the badge, you will be redirected to the verification page where you can check the status of your certificate. 
• If the status is valid and complete with your grade, you can download it. 
• The completed certificate is set in the Completed certification tab under the Manage AWS Certification section 

AWS Management Console is how you can use AWS on your computer or mobile phone with a web-based, easy-to-access, and secure portal. You can discover new services, learn AWS, build new applications, and manage your entire account. To get started with the AWS Management Console, all you need is a supported web browser and an AWS account. Here are all the facilities you can enjoy with AWS Management Console:

• Discover and experiment with more than 150 AWS services.
• Build cloud-based applications in any AWS data centre.
• Manage and monitor users, monthly billing, and service usage.
• Get in-console help from AWS Support.

To get started with the AWS Management Console, follow these steps:

• Create an AWS account for free. It will give you access to the AWS Free Tier.
• Login to your AWS account with your username and password. Access the management console. You can use any device for this.
• Test out the different services and start building your production solution.

Whether you go for the AWS Solutions Architect or Developer depends on what position you want to work as in the future.

Both are associate-level certification exams that have multiple-choice and multiple-answer questions and are available in four languages (English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese). The total duration of both exams is 130 minutes and the registration fee for each is $150. However, the difference is in the abilities tested in the exam. For the AWS solutions architect, the following abilities will be tested:

• Knowledge of architecture and deploying applications on the AWS platform with higher resilience and security.
• Defining solutions with the help of architectural design principles and in reference to the requirements of the customers.
• Facilitating implementation on the grounds of best practices.

The AWS Developer certification exam will test the following abilities:

• Understanding of AWS services, their applications as well as the best practices used for basic AWS architecture.
• Fluency in developing, deploying, and debugging cloud-based applications using the AWS capabilities.

Your interest and plans for professional development play an important role in selecting the right certification for you. In terms of average salary, AWS Solutions Architect certification is the better option. However, with the AWS Developer role, you can get into the practical applications through the AWS console.

Here are the recommended books for the AWS Developer Certification exam:

• AWS Certified Developer- Associate Guide: An Effective Guide for Developers
  It is the perfect study guide for anyone who wants to start their career as an AWS developer as it helps in preparing for the AWS Certified Developer exam. It has detailed descriptions of creating and managing user groups. The book covers all the AWS Development topics along with many practice questions, exercises, and mock tests.
• All-in-One AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam Guide
  This is a complete study guide for anyone preparing for the AWS Developer Associate exam. It has detailed explanations and descriptions of the topics you need to study. Professionals working on AWS app development can also use this guide.
• Mastering AWS Development by Uchit Vyas
  This book is a guide on developing, administering, and monitoring AWS applications. Through this guide, you will get a deep understanding of all the AWS technologies you need to prepare for the AWS developer exam, including AWS Cost-control architecture, AWS Billing, troubleshooting, etc.
• AWS for Developers - For Dummies
  This is an essential guide that provides detailed explanations on using AWS services to develop applications on the AWS console. It will also help you understand IaaS for AWS.
• AWS Development Essentials
  This guide can be used by developers, programmers, and architects who want to learn to migrate to AWS. It provides explanations on deploying, developing, and managing applications on the AWS platform. It is useful both to people preparing for the AWS Developer exam and for those working on AWS.

The AWS Developer Centre is the homepage for the AWS community. You can use this to build your first AWS application, share your ideas, and dig into the technical documentation.

• There is a tutorial you can use to learn how to build and deploy AWS web applications. It will also teach you how to capture and analyse user behaviour data and connect the app to a backend database.
• In another section of the AWS Developer Centre, you can find the tools and sample code for developing applications.
• It also allows you to access AWS’s user guides, release notes, and API references.
• The AWS Developer Centre also helps you in finding the community where you can connect with fellow AWS professionals. You can also join a user group and attend local, community-led gatherings where AWS experts exchange ideas, learn about new practices, and share architectures.

• Salary: AWS certified developers usually get an average salary of $129,868 annually. And if you have worked with big platforms like Google or Microsoft then your chances of the higher package increase considerably. 
• Related certification salary: Candidates who don’t have the highest AWS certification generally get a lesser pay package, however time and consistent effort can upgrade your skills and avail better opportunities.   
• Average salary across USA: The average salary in USA is roughly $125,714, however, this amount varies from company to company. [plus, your technical expertise and experience in the industry also plays a big role in ensuring your annual pay scale   
• Gender Wise Breakdown: AWS cloud developers are usually men. In fact,most of the IT field and technical sector is dominated by men in the US. There are companies that have inclusive policies and women are fortunately being given a chance to prove their mettle as well. 
    

Years of Experience: Most companies ask for a minimum of 4-5 years of experience in IT or related fields. Simply having the theoretical knowledge of the subject is not enough, you need some hands-on industry experience as well. There are companies that consider freshers or beginners as well, but the pay package won’t be as high.  

NOTE: The data given above is accurate as of November 2019. 

The IT sector has grown by leaps and bounds these past few years, opening new and better avenues for people in multiple sectors and companies. Cloud computing and data science are perhaps two of the biggest and most profitable career options for developers and software engineers out there. AWS certification is among the most coveted professional degrees for technical enthusiasts who want a career in cloud computing.  

AWS or Amazon Web Services is a platform that offers cloud-based storage and security services to a variety of online ventures, including eCommerce websites and online stores. AWS also offers training courses and certifications to aspiring developers and coders giving them a platform to upgrade their skills and increase their value in the job market. With an AWS degree, you can improve your chances of getting noticed by some big shot corporate brand and even get a better pay package than a normal developer. 

• AWS courses are good for beginners and professionals alike  
• Is recognized in almost every industry and sector as a credible platform  
• Offers customizable and top-notch services, irrespective of your budget or size 
• Offers candidates a network of like-minded peers and colleagues to work with  
• Is a great way to expand your contacts and widen your scope  
• Is listed in most of the top paying companies and brands around the world   
• Recognized by international IT platforms  
• Is very easy, convenient, flexible and feasible  
• Doesn’t cost as much as most other professional courses  
• Offers candidates with a variety of options- you can pick your courses, the time of the lectures, decide when and where to give your exam etc.  
  
  

Here are some of the other benefits that you should know about;  

• Scalable and Secure  

AWS has a reputed and established brand value in the market. You can rest assured that your money won't go to waste if you invest it in getting a certification from the AWS platform. Also, you can even check their credibility online by reading through the customer reviews and ratings left behind on other platforms online. AWS is also a very scalable platform and offers immense growth opportunities for people who are willing to put in the effort to upgrade their skills 

• Accessible, Attractive and Appealing  

AWS certificate course is not very difficult, especially when compared to the other professional courses. Anyone with a basic knowledge of coding and cloud platforms can easily grasp the coursework and understand the concepts taught. Also, AWS is very flexible in its approach. Candidates can decide which classes they want to take and when to attend those lectures online, as per their convenience. You can study whenever you’re free and opt for regular tests and exams to check your performance. This prepares you for the final exam better as the mock tests are designed in the same way.  

• Better Opportunities  

It is no hidden fact that Cloud computing is the future of IT. Every platform or sector that we see around is now venturing into cloud storage for better productivity, visibility and efficiency. This sudden and unprecedented boost in the demand for cloud platforms has caused a sudden rise in the need for developers and engineers to work on these platforms. If you are someone who loves to work with huge volumes of data and is great at analysis stats and getting new innovative insights, then cloud computing is the right field for you.   

The certification, because it is so credible, gives you a much-needed boost to apply for better companies and opportunities. It opens new and bright avenues, giving you an edge over your peers. Most companies consider AWS certification as credible proof of the candidate’s skills. 
 

• Versatility and Variety  

The certification is not just limited to a few topics or courses. Students and professionals can learn about a wide range of industries, apply in a variety of firms and get lucrative job offers.  

Some of the technical experience that is expected are;  

• In Depth knowledge of at least one programming language  
• Awareness of the AWS platform and its services  
• Understanding how cloud computing and storage works  
• Ability to identify errors and fix them  
• Great analytical skills and willingness to work with big data platforms  

Some of the top-rated reputable companies that are actively hiring: 

• Wipro  
• TCS  
• Accenture  
• Capgemini  
• Telstra  

You can take n number of retakes and reattempts t. The only glitch is you will have to pay the full registration amount every time you try. Also, note that candidates who have not managed to clear a section have to wait for 14 days before they can apply for a retest. 

There is no set score or percentage that is predetermined by AWS. The passing criterion changes every year with the changes in the syllabus and the average performance of the candidates during the exam  

The certification is valid for three years. To renew or recertify, you will have to register again, although AWS offers a 50% discount to candidates who want to recertify their AWS course.  

You need to have hands-on experience to achieve AWS Certification. AWS Labs help you get the hands-on practice you need to prepare for your exam. 

• Introduction to AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM): With this lab, you learn how to use AWS Identity and Access Management for managing permissions and access to your AWS services. You can practice the steps required for adding users to groups, managing passwords, logging in with IAM-created users. You will also be able to see the effects IAM policies have on access to services. 
• Introduction AWS Lambda: With this lab, you will gain a basic understanding of AWS Lambda. The basic steps needed for getting started for creating and deploying a Lambda function in an event-driven environment will be demonstrated. 
• Introduction to Amazon API Gateway: This lab will have you creating a basic FAQ microservice. The microservice will use an API gateway invoking lambda function for returning a JSON object that contains a random pair of question and answer. The “Introduction to AWS Lambda” lab is a prerequisite for this lab. 
• Caching Static Files with Amazon CloudFront: In this lab, you will be demonstrated how to use Amazon CloudFront for distribution of web content by taking and integrating a static website in Amazon S3 with Amazon CloudFront for delivering website content from AWS edge locations. This lab majorly focuses on creation of an Amazon CloudFront distribution using the AWS Management Console and then adapting the current webpages to use CloudFront. 
• Launching and Managing a Web Application with AWS CloudFormation: In this lab, you will learn how to use AWS CloudFormation for providing a web application with several supporting AWS services and products, including Auto Scaling Groups, Elastic Load Balancers, Amazon EC2 Instances, etc. 
• Maintaining High Availability with Auto Scaling (for Linux): Auto Scaling basics are introduced in this lab, with the highlight being on multiple use cases of Auto Scaling and the command-line tools used to configure Auto Scaling. 

Before you take any AWS certification, you should look at the resources available that will help you with your certification preparation. Apart from exam guides, sample questions and FAQs, AWS whitepapers are excellent preparation resources. AWS whitepapers are written by AWS partners, the AWS team and independent analysis. These whitepapers help you improve your technical understanding. To prepare for the examination, try focusing on the whitepapers mentioned below. 

• AWS Security Best Practices 
• AWS Well-Architected Framework 
• Architecting for the Cloud: AWS Best Practices 
• Practicing Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery on AWS Accelerating Software Delivery with DevOps 
• Microservices on AWS 
• Serverless Architectures with AWS Lambda 
• Optimizing Enterprise Economics with Serverless Architectures 
• Running Containerized Microservices on AWS 
• Blue/Green Deployments on AWS 

1) A two-tier web application is launched by your CloudFormation template. There is a failure of process when you try creating a development stack in us-west-1. What is the possible issue? 

A) IAM roles referenced in the template are invalid in us-west-1

B) AMIs referenced in the template are unavailable in us-west-1

C) There cannot be the same Name tag for 2 ELB Classic Load Balancers

D) Launching of CloudFormation templates can only be done in one region. 

Answer: B – AMIs are stored in a region and it is not possible to access them in other regions. It is necessary to copy the AMI for using it in another region. IAM roles remain valid across the account.  

2) Your application needs to write to an SQS queue. The corporate security policies require encryption of AWS credential, with a minimum rotation of once every week. How to provide secure credentials for allowing the application to write to the queue?

A) By Encrypting the access key in the source code of the application

B) By enabling fetching of the access key by the application at run time from an Amazon S3 bucket

C) By Launching the Amazon EC2 instance of the application with an IAM role

D) By enrolling the instance in Active Directory domain and using AD authentication. 

Answer: C – IAM roles are automatically rotated since they are based on temporary security tokens. It is not possible to rotate the keys in the source code. If you don’t have the credentials for an S3 bucket, retrieving credentials from it is impossible. Access to AWS resources won’t be granted by Active Directory authorization.  

3) Temporarily inconsistent results could be returned by which of the following operations?

A) To get an object from Amazon S3 after its initial creation

B) Selection of a row from an Amazon RDS database after its insertion

C) Selection of a row from an Amazon RDS database after its deletion

D) To get an object from Amazon S3 after its deletion

Answer: D – There is an eventual consistency in S3 for overwriting DELETES and PUTS 

4) A web application reads an item from a DynamoDB table, alters an attribute and writes it back to the table. It needs to be ensured that simultaneous change from one process is not overwritten by another process. How is concurrency ensured?

A) Use of a conditional write for implementing optimistic concurrency

B) Use of a conditional write for implementing pessimistic concurrency

C) Locking of the item upon reading for implementing optimistic concurrency

D) Locking of the item upon reading for implementing pessimistic concurrency

Answer: A – Optimistic concurrency ensure the value has not changed by checking it upon save. Pessimistic concurrency locks the row or item in the data for preventing it from changing. Item locking is not supported by DynamoDB and optimistic concurrency can be perfectly implemented through conditional writes.  

5) One Amazon VPC has a three-tier web application (web, app and data). The app and web tiers are in separate subnets and span 2 Availability Zones, sitting behind ELB Classic Load Balancers. In the database subnets is the data tier that is a Multi-AZ Amazon RDS MySQL database instance. There is a timeout error received on calling the database tier from the app tier instances. What could be the cause of this?

A) The MySQL database rights are not provided to the IAM role that is associated with the app tier instances

B) Traffic on port 3306 from app instances is not allowed by the security group for Amazon RDS instance

C) There is no public IP address for the Amazon RDS database instance

D) The Amazon VPC does not have a defined route between the database tier and the app tier. 

Answer B – All network traffic is blocked by default by the security groups. So, a timeout error can result if proper configuration of a group is not done. My SQL Security is not controlled by IAM. In an Amazon VPC, each subnet has routes to every other subnet. Public IP addresses are not required for internal traffic within Amazon VPC.  

Reference: https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-dev-associate/AWS_certified_developer_associate_examsample.pdf 

Designed by experts, practice tests help by simulating the real exam scenario. The questions are made according to the official documentation for exam syllabus. When you take multiple practice tests, you will find unique questions in each of them. No repetition means you have more questions to improve your knowledge on. 

The AWS Developer Certification practice tests are mainly provided so that candidates can improve their exam preparation and self-evaluate their present situation, thus helping them gain more confidence. These tests are extremely useful for mental preparation for taking the exam. If your practice AWS mock tests several times before your certification exam, you will be better prepared for the actual exam. 

Hence, practice tests are essentially a studying and personal assessment tool. It is recommended to take these tests in the last week of your study to assess how well you have prepared. Make sure you have enough time after taking the practice tests to work on your weak areas or even reschedule the examination without penalty. 

The process of buying a token for the official AWS practice exam is the same as scheduling the real exams. Firstly, you have to visit AWS Training and then click on the “Schedule an Exam” option. Thereafter, you will have to keep on clicking the relevant links until you reach the Testing Supplier system, where you can purchase a token. 

The purchased token will remain active on your account until you choose to start the practice exam. The countdown for the time limit doesn’t start when the token is bought. It starts counting down only when you begin your practice exam. 

It is worth noting that the official AWS practice exams cannot be retaken free of cost. In fact, each time you, or anyone else for that matter, take the practice exam you have already taken, the question will always remain the same. 

The exam readiness training prepares you for the exam by covering the topic areas of the exam and mapping them to AWS development. It also identifies the specific areas you need to study. You can go through the sample exam questions based on different topic areas. You will learn concepts in a way that helps you eliminate the wrong responses. 

The exam readiness course is delivered through a mix of sample exam questions and digital training, with an overall duration of 1.5 hours. The main concepts covered include: 

• Exam structure and overview 
• Content domains and breakdown of questions 
• Concepts and topics within content domains 
• Question structure and techniques for interpretation 
• Sample exam questions 

The training contains six e-learning modules, each with the following duration: 

AWS is a vast platform requiring extensive knowledge of cloud management and application deployment. There are more than 100 services of AWS, with new ones being added on a regular basis. Each service is unique on its own with its GUI and CLI command set. To master any AWS service, you need to understand the basics first. 

As far as difficulty of the exam is concerned, it is always going to be subjective. What can be said for sure that the difficulty of an exam is higher if it is higher on the AWS certification hierarchy. The Cloud Practitioner can be the easiest, the professional level exams being the most challenging and Associate level exams can be said to be somewhere in between in terms of difficulty level. 

When preparing for Associate exams like this, you should look to use every resource possible. You need to spend a considerable amount of time with your preparation and have a proper study plan. 

The Developer exam questions can be quite specific, and the answers aren’t necessarily straightforward. The testing objective is extremely broad, so you should never rely on one study material. Don’t expect the exam to be a breeze; you will have to put in hours of preparation.   

You can take the AWS exams via the PSI or Pearson VUE network of testing centers. You are required to provide two forms of personal identification at the examination for identification. A primary identification form has to be a current and valid driver’s license and passport issued by the government. A second primary Id can also serve as a secondary identification form, which can also include ATM or debit cards. 

AWS exams have strict security procedures with personal items, food and drink prohibited in the testing area. Any wearable device may also be inspected. The security procedures and admission requirements are outlined in full in the first step when you schedule the exam. 

Follow the steps given below to register at a test center: 

• Sign in to aws.training 
• In the top navigation, click on Certification 
• Click on the AWS Certification Account button 
• Choose the Schedule New Exam option 
• Find the exam you want to take and then click on either Schedule at Pearson VUE or Schedule at PSI button 
• You will then be redirected to the scheduling page of your test delivery provider. You can complete your exam registration there. 

You can locate test centers for AWS exams at: 

• PSI test centers 
• Pearson VUE test centers 

Before you set up a developer account, you need to set up an AWS account. 

• Sign in as the Root Access AWS User 
  • You need to enter an AWS Root Access User Account Email and select ‘Next’ 
  • Enter the Root Access User password and select ‘Sign In’ 
    
    
• Set Up a Group: 
  • Log onto the AWS console and select IAM from the Security, Identify & compliance Section. You can even search for IAM from the search bar 
  • From the left side men, click ‘Groups’ 
  • Select ‘Create New Group 
  • Enter the group name and select ‘Next Step’ 
  • Next step is selecting policies for buttons you have set up as root access user, from the Attach Policy Screen and select ‘Next Step’ 
  • Select ‘Create Group’ after reviewing the policies 
  • You will be returned to the group home page. Select the group you created for adding additional policies. 
  • Choose ‘Attach Policy’ from the permissions screen. 
  • Choose the policies from the policies screen 
  • Lastly, select ‘Attach Policy’ 
    
    
• Add the Developer’s User Account 
  • Click on ‘Users’ from the left menu bar 
  • Select ‘Add User’ 
  • Enter a username. Check the ‘AWS Management Console Access’ and ‘Programmatic Access’ boxes. Keep ‘require password to be reset’ and ‘Autogenerated password’ default for the first-time developer login before clicking on ‘Next Permissions’ 
  • Check the box of the developers group you created earlier and then select ‘Next’ Tags 
  • For finding and organizing your users, up to 50 key/ value pairs can be added. The ‘Email’ key is recommended with the email address of the developer as the value. Select ‘Next review’ 
  • Before selecting ‘Create User’ review all the ser details 
  • Congrats, your account has been set up successfully. 

AWS Certification portal allows you to share your digital certificate on LinkedIn as well as social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You can even track the number of times your certificate was viewed. LinkedIn requires your certification URL and the steps given below can be followed to find the URL. 

1. Login to your AWS Training and Certification portal and Click on Digital Badges tab 
2. You need to enter an email address that will be your badge identity. Go to Badging Settings, click Enable and enter your email address. 
3. Under the Active Badges, click on your badge and copy the badge URL after selecting the URL icon.  

The following AWS certifications are suited for developers: 

• AWS Certified Developer – Associate: This certification is made for software developers with a minimum 1-year experience in designing and maintaining applications on AWS platform. Candidates are required to have a good knowledge of at least one high level programming language. 
• AWS Certified DevOps Engineer: This certification covers static systems as well as systems that change over time. It also has in-depth coverage of design, maintenance and provisioning of distributed systems and applications on AWS platforms and general application life cycle. This certification is great for progressing from associate-level certifications to Solutions Architect Professional level certification. 

The information on AWS services has been updated in Developing on AWS course and it now includes more hands-on lab time, allowing learners to make a complete solution that covers most services in the course. 

The Exam Readiness- AWS certified Developer - Associate course is now aligned with the latest exam version released in June 2019. 

If you are starting with no prior knowledge of AWS, you need to get a bit of experience with the fundamentals of the services. This is done because the Developer exam is not for testing out your knowledge of all the products and services offered by AWS, it’s for demonstrating that you have the skill of using them together. So, a good place for you, a Java Developer, to start in AWS will be the AWS Technical Essentials course. You need a high-level of the services provided by the AWS. Next step is to just dive into the use cases to see how you can stand out while developing apps on the AWS platform. For this, you need to know how to loosely couple applications. All the above-mentioned topics are covered in the Developers learning path of AWS.

A front-end developer usually doesn’t directly interface with AWS the way DevOps team members do. Yet, frontend developers aren’t necessarily completely oblivious to AWS. AWS is very much a part of their daily operations. 

Lack of familiarity with the AWS platform can potentially limit the effectiveness of a developer. Learning about AWS helps the frontend developers communicate with the backend developers on their team. 

Taking the AWS certification exam provides an idea about how AWS works and how different parts of the system fit together. Working knowledge of AWS can turn any frontend developer into a more effective developer. 

• Get more done with the tools you are familiar with: As a .NET developer, you will be provided with all the tools and integrations you would expect from AWS. Hence, there is a short learning curve for .NET developers to make use of the most innovative cloud 
• Managed support for full Windows stack: There is support for anything you might require for building and running Windows applications like Active Directory, Windows File Server and Microsoft SQL Server. 
• Use the latest cloud technologies for maximum innovation: AWS provides native support for .NET over numerous modern tools and services, like the AWS cloud Development Kit and AWS Lambda. 

The figures mentioned above were sourced in September 2019.