20+ practice questions focused on Development with AWS Services — one of the most tested topics on the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation so you learn why the right answer is correct.
Start Development with AWS Services PracticeA developer is building a serverless application that processes orders. An order is placed and an event is published to an Amazon SNS topic. The SNS topic has multiple subscribers, including an SQS queue for order processing and a Lambda function for sending notifications. The developer wants to ensure that the SQS queue receives all messages reliably, even if the processing Lambda function fails temporarily. Which configuration should the developer set?
Explanation: When an Amazon Lambda function is configured to process messages from an Amazon SQS queue (via an event source mapping), any failed messages are returned to the queue. To prevent poison-pill messages from repeatedly failing and blocking the queue, a Dead-Letter Queue (DLQ) must be configured on the source SQS queue itself (using a redrive policy). Configuring a DLQ on the Lambda function itself only works for asynchronous invocations, not for SQS event source mappings (which use synchronous polling under the hood).
A developer is building a serverless application that uses an Amazon SQS FIFO queue to process orders. The orders must be processed exactly once and in the order they are received. The developer uses an AWS Lambda function as the consumer. Despite using a FIFO queue, the developer notices that some orders are being processed more than once. What is the most likely cause of this behavior?
Explanation: When using an Amazon SQS queue as an event source for AWS Lambda, the Lambda service automatically deletes messages from the queue after your function successfully processes them. However, if the SQS queue's visibility timeout is shorter than the Lambda function's timeout, a message might become visible again in the queue while the Lambda function is still processing it. This allows another Lambda instance to retrieve and process the same message, resulting in duplicate processing.
A developer is building a serverless application using AWS Lambda and Amazon DynamoDB. The application needs to store large JSON documents (up to 1 MB) and retrieve them by a primary key. The documents are updated frequently. Which DynamoDB feature should the developer consider to optimize performance and cost for storing and retrieving these large items?
Explanation: DynamoDB has a strict 400 KB item size limit, making it impossible to store 1 MB documents directly. The standard design pattern is to store the large payload in Amazon S3 and save the S3 object reference (URI/key) in the DynamoDB item. Changing the question stem to ask for the 'approach' or 'design pattern' instead of 'DynamoDB feature' resolves this contradiction.
A developer configures an AWS Lambda function to process image files uploaded to an S3 bucket. The bucket receives a mix of .jpg, .png, and .pdf files. To reduce costs, the developer wants the Lambda function to be invoked only for image files (.jpg and .png). How should the developer configure the S3 event notification?
Explanation: Amazon S3 Event Notifications have a strict limitation: they do not support multiple suffixes in a single filter, and they do not allow overlapping rules (e.g., two rules with the same prefix/empty prefix but different suffixes like .jpg and .png). To achieve suffix filtering for multiple extensions (.jpg and .png) without invoking Lambda for other files (like .pdf), you must enable EventBridge notifications on the S3 bucket and create an EventBridge rule with an event pattern that filters by suffix. This avoids unnecessary Lambda invocations and reduces costs.
A developer is building a serverless application that needs to store user session data. The data is small (a few KB per user) and must be accessible across multiple invocations of the same Lambda function and across different Lambda functions. The session data should persist for the duration of the user session (up to 1 hour). Which storage solution should the developer use?
Explanation: Amazon DynamoDB is a fully serverless, managed NoSQL database that integrates seamlessly with AWS Lambda without requiring a VPC. It offers single-digit millisecond latency, which is more than sufficient for user session data. By enabling Time to Live (TTL), DynamoDB can automatically delete expired session items after 1 hour at no extra cost, making it the ideal and most cost-effective storage solution for serverless session state.
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Practice all Development with AWS Services questions1. Baseline your knowledge
Start with 10 questions to gauge your current understanding of Development with AWS Services. This tells you whether you need a concept refresher or just practice.
2. Review every explanation
For each question — right or wrong — read the full explanation. Understanding why an answer is correct is more valuable than knowing the answer itself.
3. Focus on exam traps
Development with AWS Services questions on the DVA-C02 frequently use trap wording. Look for subtle differences in answers that test your precision, not just general knowledge.
4. Reach 80% consistently
Do repeated sessions until you score 80%+ three times in a row. Then move to mixed-mode practice to test cross-topic recall under realistic conditions.
The exact number varies per candidate. Development with AWS Services is tested as part of the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 blueprint. Practicing with targeted Development with AWS Services questions ensures you can handle any format or difficulty that appears.
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Difficulty is subjective, but Development with AWS Services is a high-priority exam concept tested in multiple ways — direct recall, scenario analysis, and command-output interpretation. Consistent practice is the best way to build confidence.
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