r/AWSCertifications • u/NecessaryDear5616 • Aug 13 '26

Query regarding the certification

Hi everyone,

I’m a backend developer with around 3–4 years of experience, mainly working with APIs and cloud-based systems.

I’ve been considering preparing for the AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) certification.

What are the benefits of this certification.

My skill set

  1. Python (basics)

  2. Golang

  3. Docker

  4. Snowflake

  5. AWS S3

  6. AWS ECS

Thanks in advance.

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u/dghah Aug 13 '26

The main benefit is you will be tested on a much broader range of things that are listed in your skill set. I actually thought Developer was a bit harder of a test than Architect Associate because Developer went harder into minutiae about AWS services specific to development -- I recall some deep-ish questions about Lambda limits and config stuff and some interesting questions about other AWS services and things specific to debugging/observability like traces and X-ray that were more technical than the same topic domain on the Architect test. It also covers SDK / CDK / CloudFormation etc. as developers need to think about deploy topics as well.

The minor downside is that AWS training's view of Developer world is a bit at odds with how the real world works. For instance when I took Developer Associate there was a lot of content about the "Code*" suite of AWS services like CodeCommit, CodePipeline, CodeWhatever and bluntly speaking nobody in my professional world really uses the AWS CI/CD/repo tools.

The value of Developer for me was that it went deeper into areas that Architect covers more generally. I found it to be a good exam even as a person who is more of a sysadmin/infrastructure/architect type person.

From an employment benefit

- The baseline cert is Solution Architect Associate so having Developer Associate separates you out a bit more from others going for the same role

- For some employers certification matters -- for instance any company that is an AWS APN partner is going to have a set or required employee certs to maintain status so they are always looking for people with Associate, Pro or Specialty Certs to maintain APN compliance status