Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate Cheat Sheet Guide

1. Introduction to the AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam

The AWS Certified Developer Associate exam is important for developers who want to prove their skills in working with AWS Cloud-based applications. You need about a year of hands-on experience with AWS services to do well on this exam.

Here are the main things to know about the exam:

AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam: Key Points

• Exam Duration: 130 minutes
• Number of Questions: 65
• Question Types: Multiple-choice and multiple-response
• Passing Score: 720 out of 1000
• Cost: $150 USD
• Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese
• Validity: 3 years
• Recommended Experience: 1+ year developing AWS applications
• Recertification: Pass latest exam version or earn AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
• Discount: 50% off next AWS Certification exam after passing

Getting this certification can really help your career. Many people say it helps them earn more money and do better at work. The exam covers lots of AWS services and topics, focusing on how to develop, deploy, secure, and fix problems with AWS applications.

2. Essential AWS Services for Developers

As an AWS Certified Developer Associate, you need to know about many AWS services. Here are some of the main ones to focus on:

1. Amazon EC2: For virtual servers in the cloud

2. Amazon S3: For storing files and data

3. Amazon DynamoDB: A fast database for storing information

4. AWS Lambda: For running code without managing servers

5. Amazon RDS: For setting up and using databases

6. Amazon VPC: For creating private networks in the cloud

7. AWS CloudFormation: For setting up and managing AWS resources

You should also know about AWS Elastic Beanstalk for easily putting your apps on the internet, Amazon API Gateway for making and managing APIs, and AWS CloudWatch for keeping an eye on your applications. It’s important to understand how these services work together to build good applications on AWS.

3. IAM and Security Best Practices

Security is very important in cloud computing, and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a big part of AWS security. As a developer, you need to know how to use IAM properly.

AWS SysOps security best practices are important for keeping your cloud environment safe. Here are some key things to remember:

• Use IAM roles instead of putting passwords in your code
• Only give people the permissions they really need
• Change access keys and passwords regularly
• Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all IAM users
• Use security groups and Network Access Control Lists to control who can access your resources
• Encrypt your data using AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
• Use AWS Organizations to manage multiple AWS accounts
• Use AWS CloudTrail to keep track of what’s happening in your AWS account
• Regularly check and update IAM policies and permissions
• Use AWS Config to check and evaluate your AWS resource settings

4. Developing with AWS SDKs and CLI

As an AWS developer, you’ll use AWS SDKs (Software Development Kits) and the AWS CLI (Command Line Interface) a lot. These tools help you work with AWS services using code.

AWS has SDKs for many programming languages like Python, Java, JavaScript, and .NET. Here’s a simple example of using the AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) to list S3 buckets:

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client('s3')
response = s3.list_buckets()

for bucket in response['Buckets']:
    print(f'Bucket Name: {bucket["Name"]}')

The AWS CLI lets you manage AWS services from the command line. Here’s an example of using the AWS CLI to create an S3 bucket:

aws s3 mb s3://my-new-bucket

When using AWS SDKs and CLI, it’s important to understand how to manage credentials, choose regions, and handle errors. Knowing about common SDK patterns, like pagination and waiter functions, will also help you in the exam and in real-world development.

5. Serverless Application Development

Serverless computing lets you build and run applications without having to manage servers. AWS Lambda is the main service for serverless computing on AWS.

Here’s a simple example of a Lambda function in Python:

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    return {
        'statusCode': 200,
        'body': 'Hello from Lambda!'
    }

To create a serverless API, you can use Lambda with Amazon API Gateway. This lets you make APIs that run your Lambda functions. When making serverless applications, keep these things in mind:

• Make functions that do one thing well
• Use environment variables for settings
• Handle errors and log information properly
• Use AWS Step Functions for complex tasks
• Use AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model) to make deployment easier

6. Database and Storage Solutions

AWS has many different database and storage options. As a developer, you need to know when and how to use each one.

Here’s a quick look at some important database and storage services:

• Amazon DynamoDB: A fast, flexible database
• Amazon S3: For storing and getting any amount of data
• Amazon RDS: For using traditional databases
• Amazon Aurora: A fast database that works with MySQL and PostgreSQL
• Amazon ElastiCache: For storing data in memory for quick access
• Amazon Redshift: For storing and analyzing large amounts of data

When working with these services, it’s important to understand things like how DynamoDB uses keys to organize data, how to set up S3 bucket policies, and how to make RDS databases highly available. Also, learn how to model data for each type of database and how to make queries run faster.

7. Application Deployment and Management

Deploying and managing applications on AWS involves understanding several key services and concepts. Let’s explore some of them:

AWS Elastic Beanstalk helps you deploy and scale web applications. It automatically handles things like capacity, load balancing, scaling, and monitoring your application’s health.

AWS CloudFormation lets you use a template file to set up all the resources your applications need. Here’s a simple example of a CloudFormation template:

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Resources:
  MyS3Bucket:
    Type: 'AWS::S3::Bucket'
    Properties:
      BucketName: my-unique-bucket-name

For continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), you can use AWS CodePipeline and CodeBuild. These services help you automate how you release your software. When setting up CI/CD pipelines, consider these best practices:

• Use infrastructure as code for consistent setups
• Add automated testing at different stages
• Use AWS CodeArtifact to manage software packages
• Use blue-green or canary deployment to avoid downtime
• Use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to securely store configuration data

8. Monitoring and Debugging AWS Applications

Monitoring and debugging are important for keeping your applications running well. AWS has several tools to help you watch your applications and fix problems.

AWS monitoring and management tools are essential for cloud professionals. Here are some key services you should know:

• Amazon CloudWatch: For watching AWS resources and your applications
• AWS X-Ray: For analyzing and debugging distributed applications
• AWS CloudTrail: For keeping track of activity in your AWS account
• Amazon EventBridge: For building event-driven applications
• AWS Config: For checking and evaluating your AWS resource configurations

When trying to fix problems, start by looking at your CloudWatch metrics and logs. If you need more details, use X-Ray to follow requests through your application. Make sure to add good logging to your applications to make debugging and performance improvement easier.

9. Performance Optimization and Scalability

Making your applications run fast and handle more users is important for AWS developers. Let’s look at some key ideas and services:

AWS high availability and scalability are crucial for building strong applications. Here are some strategies to think about:

• Use Amazon ElastiCache to store frequently accessed data
• Use Auto Scaling groups to automatically adjust the number of servers based on demand
• Use Amazon CloudFront to deliver content faster to users around the world
• Use read replicas for your RDS databases to improve performance
• Use Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) for faster DynamoDB performance
• Use Amazon SQS to separate parts of your application
• Use AWS Lambda@Edge to run functions closer to users

When trying to make your applications run better, start by finding the slowest parts through monitoring and testing. Then, use the right techniques to improve those parts. Remember to think about costs too, using services like AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Trusted Advisor.

10. Exam Preparation Strategies and Resources

To prepare for the AWS Certified Developer Associate exam, you need a good plan and the right resources. Here are some tips to help you succeed:

1. Read the AWS Exam Guide carefully to understand what’s on the exam
2. Take practice tests to get used to the questions and find what you need to study more
3. Read AWS white papers and documentation to learn more about important services
4. Get hands-on experience by working on real projects or using the AWS Free Tier
5. Join study groups or online forums to discuss ideas and share knowledge
6. Watch AWS re:Invent sessions and detailed videos on YouTube
7. Use AWS Training and Certification online courses
8. Try AWS labs and workshops to get hands-on experience
9. Look at sample questions provided by AWS
10. Make your own study notes and diagrams to help remember things

AWS certification bundles can be a good way to get multiple training resources and practice exams for less money. Think about getting a bundle to help you prepare for the exam.

AWS Cheat Sheet Table

Category	Command/Concept	Description
AWS CLI	aws configure	Set up AWS CLI credentials
S3	aws s3 cp	Copy files to/from S3 buckets
Lambda	aws lambda create-function	Create a new Lambda function
DynamoDB	aws dynamodb put-item	Add an item to a DynamoDB table
EC2	aws ec2 run-instances	Launch a new EC2 instance
IAM	aws iam create-role	Create a new IAM role
CloudFormation	aws cloudformation create-stack	Create a new CloudFormation stack
API Gateway	aws apigateway create-rest-api	Create a new REST API
Elastic Beanstalk	aws elasticbeanstalk create-application	Create a new Elastic Beanstalk application
CloudWatch	aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm	Create a CloudWatch alarm

Conclusion

The AWS Certified Developer Associate certification is valuable and can help your career in cloud development. By learning the ideas and services in this guide, you’ll be ready for the exam and able to use your knowledge in real situations. Good luck on your certification journey!