# AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C03) The AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C03) exam is intended for individuals who perform a developer role. The exam validates a candidate's ability to demonstrate proficiency in developing, testing, deploying, and debugging AWS Cloud-based applications, including using AI-assisted development tools. **Note:** AWS exam guides are periodically reviewed and revised to ensure that each certification exam tests skills and AWS services and features that are current and relevant for the job role(s) that the certification is designed to target. Exam guide revisions will be published at least one month before changes are reflected on your exam. Check the Revisions section for a summary of changes. **Note:** This exam is being updated. Registration for the updated version of the exam (DVA-C03) opens December 1, 2026. The last day to take the current version of the exam (DVA-C02) is November 30, 2026. **Topics** + [Introduction](#developer-associate-03-intro) + [Target candidate description](#developer-associate-03-target) + [Exam content](#developer-associate-03-exam-content) + [Content outline](#developer-associate-03-domains) + [Content Domain 1: Development with AWS Services](developer-associate-03-domain1.md) + [Content Domain 2: Security](developer-associate-03-domain2.md) + [Content Domain 3: Testing and Deployment](developer-associate-03-domain3.md) + [Content Domain 4: Troubleshooting and Optimization](developer-associate-03-domain4.md) + [Technologies and Concepts](dva-03-technologies-concepts.md) + [Mentions of AWS Services on the Exam](dva-03-service-mentions.md) + [In-Scope AWS Services](dva-03-in-scope-services.md) + [Out-of-Scope AWS Services](dva-03-out-of-scope-services.md) + [Comparison of DVA-C02 and DVA-C03](dva-03-comparison.md) + [Survey](#dva-03-survey) ## Introduction The [AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C03)](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-developer-associate/) exam is intended for individuals who perform a developer role. The exam validates a candidate's ability to demonstrate proficiency in developing, testing, deploying, and debugging AWS Cloud-based applications, including using AI-assisted development tools. The exam also validates a candidate's ability to complete the following tasks: + Develop and optimize applications on AWS + Use AI tools to develop applications + Package and deploy applications by using continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflows + Secure application code and data + Identify and resolve application issues ## Target candidate description The target candidate should have 1 or more years of hands-on experience in developing and maintaining applications by using AWS services. ### Recommended general IT knowledge The target candidate should have the following general IT knowledge: + Proficiency in at least one high-level programming language + Understanding of application lifecycle management + Basic understanding of cloud-focused application development + Experience in using application development tools, including AI tools + Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows ### Recommended AWS knowledge The target candidate should be able to complete the following tasks: + Develop and secure applications by using AWS service APIs, AWS CLI, and SDKs + Use a CI/CD pipeline to deploy applications on AWS + Use AI tools and services to support development, testing, and release of high-quality code + Integrate managed AI services into applications ### Job tasks that are out of scope for the target candidate The following list contains job tasks that the target candidate is not expected to be able to perform. This list is non-exhaustive. These tasks are out of scope for the exam: + Design architectures (for example, distributed systems, microservices, database schemas and modeling) + Design and create CI/CD pipelines + Administer IAM users and groups + Administer servers and operating systems + Select foundation models (FMs), engineer AI prompts, and design Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures + Design AI safety frameworks, implement guardrails, and implement AI governance + Design and create extract, transform, and load (ETL) pipelines + Design AWS networking infrastructure This exam guide also includes a list of technologies and concepts that might appear on the exam, a list of in-scope AWS services and features, and a list of out-of-scope AWS services and features. ## Exam content ### Response types There are two types of questions on the exam: + **Multiple choice:** Has one correct response and three incorrect responses (distractors) + **Multiple response:** Has two or more correct responses out of five or more response options. You must select all the correct responses to receive credit for the question. Unanswered questions are scored as incorrect; there is no penalty for guessing. The exam includes 50 questions that affect your score. ### Unscored content The exam includes 15 unscored questions that do not affect your score. AWS collects information about performance on these unscored questions to evaluate these questions for future use as scored questions. These unscored questions are not identified on the exam. ### Exam results The AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C03) exam has a pass or fail designation. The exam is scored against a minimum standard established by AWS professionals who follow certification industry best practices and guidelines. Your results for the exam are reported as a scaled score of 100–1,000. The minimum passing score is 720. Your score shows how you performed on the exam as a whole and whether you passed. Scaled scoring models help equate scores across multiple exam forms that might have slightly different difficulty levels. Your score report could contain a table of classifications of your performance at each section level. The exam uses a compensatory scoring model, which means that you do not need to achieve a passing score in each section. You need to pass only the overall exam. Each section of the exam has a specific weighting, so some sections have more questions than other sections have. The table of classifications contains general information that highlights your strengths and weaknesses. Use caution when you interpret section-level feedback. ## Content outline This exam guide includes weightings, content domains, tasks, and skills for the exam. This guide does not provide a comprehensive list of the content on the exam. The exam has the following content domains and weightings: + [Content Domain 1: Development with AWS Services (30% of scored content)](developer-associate-03-domain1.md) + [Content Domain 2: Security (26% of scored content)](developer-associate-03-domain2.md) + [Content Domain 3: Testing and Deployment (22% of scored content)](developer-associate-03-domain3.md) + [Content Domain 4: Troubleshooting and Optimization (22% of scored content)](developer-associate-03-domain4.md) ## Survey How useful was this exam guide? Let us know by [taking our survey](https://amazonmr.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8vLR1a9uG9zu9Po?course_title=Dev-Associate&course_id=DVA-C03&Q_Language=EN).