AWS · DVA-C02 · Intermediate

AWS Developer - Associate (DVA-C02) — Practice Questions and Mock Exam

Name: Pass-IT
Author: Pass-IT

Prepare for DVA-C02 with original practice questions and clear answer explanations. Ask Alex, your AI tutor, when you need more detail, use your results to identify topics to review, and practice your pacing with timed mock exams.

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65Mock exam questions

130minTime limit

720/ 1000Passing score

Checked against AWS · August 2026 · Current exam version

Overview

About the exam

The AWS Certified Developer – Associate validates the ability to develop, deploy, and debug cloud-based applications using AWS services. It covers core development workflows including writing code that interacts with AWS APIs and SDKs, implementing CI/CD pipelines, managing application security, and optimizing application performance.

This certification is designed for software developers and DevOps practitioners with at least one year of hands-on AWS development experience. It demonstrates proficiency with services like Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, and CodePipeline, and the ability to troubleshoot and optimize cloud-native applications.

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Try five DVA-C02 questions

Try five practice questions from the app’s current AWS Certified Developer - Associate question bank, with answers and explanations.

Development with AWS Services1 / 5

A developer is implementing a DynamoDB query for a table with a composite primary key (partition key: UserId, sort key: Timestamp). The developer wants to retrieve all items for a specific user where the timestamp is between two dates. Which approach should the developer use?

AlexFull explanation from Alex

For a table with a composite primary key, Query requires partition-key equality and can include a sort-key condition such as BETWEEN, begins_with, greater than, or less than. In this case, UserId is the partition key and Timestamp is the sort key, so querying a user between two timestamps belongs in the KeyConditionExpression. Scan is inefficient for known partition-key access, and FilterExpression is not a substitute for a key condition because filtering happens after DynamoDB reads the matching item set.

Sourcedocs.aws.amazon.com

Troubleshooting and Optimization4 / 5

A developer has a Lambda function that experiences high cold start latency (over 3 seconds). The function is invoked by an API Gateway REST API serving interactive web users. The function uses a Java runtime, initializes several SDK clients, and loads a large machine learning model during initialization. Which approach will MOST effectively reduce cold start latency for this function?

AlexFull explanation from Alex

Provisioned concurrency keeps Lambda execution environments pre-initialized and warm, eliminating cold start latency. Cold starts occur when Lambda creates a new execution environment (downloading code, initializing runtime, running init code). Provisioned concurrency keeps a specified number of environments ready to serve requests immediately. This is critical for latency-sensitive applications like APIs. You pay for provisioned concurrency even when not in use. Application Auto Scaling can adjust provisioned concurrency based on schedule or utilization. Reducing package size also helps but doesn't eliminate cold starts. Exam tip: Provisioned concurrency = pre-warmed Lambda environments = no cold starts. Pay for reserved capacity.

Sourcedocs.aws.amazon.com

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Question pool

339 practice questions

The Pass-IT question pool gives you material to practice for DVA-C02. A Pass-IT mock exam uses 65 questions and a 130-minute time limit; these are practice settings.

Pool details: DVA-C02

Passing score720 / 1,000

as published by AWS

Objectives in the guide13 objectives listed in the official guide

across 4 domains in the official exam guide

Pool size339 questions

= The pool size is equivalent to 5 sets of 65 questions; this does not mean that each mock exam uses a separate set.

Blueprint domains4 domains in the exam blueprint

Development with AWS Services 142 · Security 72 · Deployment 67 · Troubleshooting and Optimization 58

Recorded as checked against sources339 of 339

questions recorded as having their answer, options, and explanation checked against official AWS documentation

How questions are made →

Exam domains

What's on the exam

Development with AWS Services is the largest domain at 32%, covering the code itself: event-driven and microservices patterns, Lambda functions and their event lifecycle, and reads and writes against AWS data stores. Security follows at 26% — identity providers, IAM roles and bearer tokens, encryption wherever data sits or moves, and keeping secrets out of source. Deployment takes 24%, covering artifact packaging, testing across environments and shipping through AWS CI/CD services, and Troubleshooting and Optimization closes the guide at 18%.

Read together, security and deployment outweigh the development domain: more than half the exam sits outside "write the function" and asks instead how the code authenticates, ships and gets debugged. AWS also puts architecture design, CI/CD pipeline design and IAM administration explicitly out of scope — this is the developer's view of those services, not the architect's or the administrator's.

Exam blueprint: DVA-C02

Development with AWS Services32%

Develop fault-tolerant application code using architectural patterns such as event-driven and microservices designs, write and configure AWS Lambda functions including their event lifecycle and performance tuning, and use AWS data stores such as DynamoDB in application development.

≈ 14 h

Security26%

Wire up identity providers, IAM roles, and bearer tokens so applications authenticate and authorize correctly, encrypt data wherever it sits or moves, and keep sensitive values out of application code through secrets management and masking.

≈ 12 h

Deployment24%

Package application artifacts and their dependencies for release, exercise them in development environments with integration and event-driven tests, automate that testing across environments, and ship through AWS CI/CD services using strategies like blue/green and canary.

≈ 11 h

Troubleshooting and Optimization18%

Debug failing code by working backward through metrics, logs, and traces, instrument the application so future issues surface faster through structured logging and tracing, and tune performance with caching, concurrency limits, and profiling.

≈ 8 h

Format

Exam format and question types

The exam consists of 65 questions (50 scored, 15 unscored), featuring multiple-choice and multiple-response question types over 130 minutes. Questions focus on practical development scenarios involving Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, S3, SQS, and deployment services. Expect code-level questions about SDK usage, error handling, and CI/CD pipeline configuration. Budget roughly 2 minutes per question.

Question types: DVA-C02

Multiple Choice70%

Select the single answer that best meets the question’s requirements.

Multiple Response30%

Select multiple answers. Follow the question’s instructions on how many to choose.

See AWS for official question-format information. The shares shown describe the Pass-IT practice pool; they do not establish the proportions on the official exam.

Planning

Preparing for DVA-C02

Delivered via Pearson VUE online or at testing centers. Available in English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish. The certification is valid for 3 years with renewal through recertification exams.

Preparation and logistics: DVA-C02

Preparation

Illustrative study time25–70 h

illustrative planning range: 25 h with relevant experience to 70 h when starting out; your needs may fall outside this range

LevelIntermediate

Taking and maintaining the certification

DeliveryPearson VUE testing center or online proctored exam

Retake policy14-day waiting period between exam attempts, no limit on total number of attempts

Certification validity3 years

Pass a recertification exam before the 3-year expiration date, or earn a higher-level AWS certification to automatically renew

Official guideView on provider site

Study notes

Common pitfalls

Topics to review: DVA-C02

01DynamoDB Keys
Misunderstanding partition keys, sort keys, and GSI/LSI design leads to wrong answers on data modeling and query optimization questions.
02Lambda Limits
Not knowing cold start behavior, memory/timeout configuration, and concurrency limits causes errors on serverless architecture questions.
03IAM for Apps
Confusing IAM roles, resource policies, and Cognito user/identity pools when securing application access to AWS resources.
04CI/CD Services
Mixing up CodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, and CodePipeline responsibilities leads to wrong answers on deployment workflow questions.
05Error Handling
Not understanding SQS dead-letter queues, Lambda retry behavior, and Step Functions error handling patterns.

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Questions

Frequently asked questions

How long is the AWS Certified Developer - Associate exam?

The DVA-C02 exam has 65 questions and a 130-minute time limit.

What is the passing score for AWS Certified Developer - Associate?

The passing score for the DVA-C02 exam is 720 / 1000.

Which pitfalls should I review when preparing for AWS Certified Developer - Associate?

Topics to review include DynamoDB Keys, Lambda Limits, IAM for Apps, CI/CD Services, Error Handling. Work through examples to check that you understand the distinctions and can explain your answer.

What experience do you need for AWS Developer Associate?

AWS sets no formal prerequisite and writes DVA-C02 for people with at least a year of hands-on experience building and maintaining applications on AWS. The questions assume you have worked with Lambda limits, DynamoDB key design and IAM from an application's point of view.

How long is AWS Developer Associate valid?

Three years. You renew by passing the recertification exam before it expires, or automatically by earning a higher-level AWS certification such as DOP-C02 in the meantime.

Which DVA-C02 domains carry the most weight?

Development with AWS services is the largest at 32%, followed by security at 26%, deployment at 24% and troubleshooting and optimisation at 18%. AWS publishes these figures, and the security share surprises people who prepared for this as a pure coding exam.

What comes after AWS Developer Associate?

DOP-C02, the DevOps Engineer Professional, is the usual next step and renews DVA-C02 automatically when you pass it. SAA-C03 is the sideways move if you want architecture breadth rather than delivery depth.

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