The AWS Certified Developer - Associate examination is intended for individuals who perform a development role and have one or more years of hands-on experience developing and maintaining an AWS-based application.
Abilities Validated by the Certification
- Demonstrate an understanding of core AWS services, uses, and basic AWS architecture best practices.
 - Demonstrate proficiency in developing, deploying, and debugging cloud-based applications using AWS.
 
Prerequisites
Recommended Knowledge
- In-depth knowledge of at least one high-level programming language
 - Understanding of core AWS services, uses, and basic AWS architecture best practices
 - Proficiency in developing, deploying, and debugging cloud-based applications using AWS
 - Ability to use the AWS service APIs, AWS CLI, and SDKs to write applications
 - Ability to identify key features of AWS services
 - Understanding of the AWS shared responsibility model
 - Understanding of application lifecycle management
 - Ability to use a CI/CD pipeline to deploy applications on AWS
 - Ability to use or interact with AWS services
 - Ability to apply a basic understanding of cloud-native applications to write code
 - Ability to write code using AWS security best practices (e.g., not using secret and access keys in the code, instead using IAM roles)
 - Ability to author, maintain, and debug code modules on AWS
 - Proficiency writing code for serverless applications
 - Understanding of the use of containers in the development process
 
The best preparation for certification exams is practical experience. We recommend one or more years of hands-on experience using AWS.