Chapter 1 of 4 · AWS DVA-C03
Development with AWS Services
Decoupling, SDKs, events and streams, Lambda, data stores, DynamoDB and AI services.
- 7topics
- 35 minfast track
- 2diagrams and exhibits
- 30%of the exam
Topics in this chapter
Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 1Decoupling, Sync or Async, and API GatewayDecouple components with SQS, SNS and EventBridge, choose synchronous or asynchronous calls, and shape REST APIs with mappings…5 min
- 2SDK Calls, Serialization, and ResilienceCall AWS services with SDKs, convert data to and from the wire formats services expect, and build in retries with backoff and…5 min
- 3Event Driven Patterns, Streaming, and Lambda TriggersWire S3 Event Notifications, EventBridge, SNS and SQS to Lambda, process streams with Kinesis, and know how event source mappings…Diagram5 min
- 4Lambda Configuration, VPC Access, and Error HandlingSet Lambda memory, timeout, concurrency, layers and variables, reach private VPC resources, and handle failures with destinations…Diagram5 min
- 5Choosing Data Stores and CachingPick DynamoDB, RDS, Aurora, S3, ElastiCache or OpenSearch by access pattern, then choose lazy loading, write-through, DAX or…5 min
- 6DynamoDB Design and Data LifecyclesChoose DynamoDB keys and indexes, use Query versus Scan and consistency models, and expire data with TTL, S3 Lifecycle rules and…5 min
- 7AI-Assisted Development and Managed AI ServicesUse Kiro and Amazon Q Developer to generate, review and secure code, and call Amazon Bedrock, Textract, Transcribe and Comprehend…5 min
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
This chapter is 30% of the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C03 exam, the largest of the four domains. It tests whether you can write code that uses AWS services correctly: calling APIs, wiring events, configuring Lambda and choosing and using data stores.
The outline has three tasks. The first is developing code for applications hosted on AWS, which covers decoupling, APIs, SDKs, events, streams and AI. The second is developing code for Lambda. The third is using data stores, including DynamoDB, caching and data lifecycles.
Questions are developer scenarios with single answer and multiple response formats. Multiple response questions state the count, such as "Which TWO". Look for discriminators like LEAST operational overhead or MOST secure. There are no exhibits.
How the topics fit together
An application accepts a request, hands work to events or queues, runs it in Lambda and stores the result.
- Decoupling and APIs keep components independent and shape what clients send.
- SDKs, serialization and retries make each service call correct and resilient.
- Events and streams trigger Lambda and carry data in order.
- Lambda settings decide memory, network access and failure handling.
- Data stores and DynamoDB hold the state, with caching and lifecycles on top.
- AI tools and services speed up coding and add features to the application.
When two answers both work, pick the one that uses a managed feature, such as an event source mapping, a TTL or a request validator, instead of custom code.
How to use these pages
Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.
- What it is: the idea in plain words.
- How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and examples.
- What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorize.
- Common mistakes: the classic traps.
- Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.
Pay special attention to the comparison tables. Many questions ask you to choose between two similar options, such as a queue and a stream, or a local and a global secondary index.
Ready for more practice?
The full AWS DVA-C03 question bank has 850 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.
This study guide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by AWS. Vendor names, certification names and exam codes are trademarks of their respective owners and are used for identification only.