Question 161 of 724
DVA-C02 Development with AWS Services Practice Question
A developer is building a RESTful API that allows clients to query a database and retrieve results. The backend logic is implemented in AWS Lambda, which queries an Amazon DynamoDB table. The developer wants to expose the API over HTTPS and manage authentication and throttling. Which AWS service should the developer use to create and manage the API endpoints?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse an Application Load Balancer with API Gateway because both can invoke Lambda functions, but ALB lacks API management features like authentication, throttling, and API key validation, which are explicitly required in the question.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon API Gateway
Amazon API Gateway is the correct choice because it is a fully managed service that enables developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure RESTful APIs at any scale. It directly supports HTTPS endpoints, integrates natively with AWS Lambda for backend logic, and provides built-in features for authentication (e.g., IAM, Cognito, Lambda authorizers) and throttling (usage plans and rate limits). This makes it the ideal service for exposing a Lambda-backed DynamoDB query as a secure, managed API.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Application Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
While an Application Load Balancer (ALB) can distribute HTTP/HTTPS traffic to backend services, it operates primarily as a Layer 7 load balancer. It does not natively provide advanced API management capabilities such as client authentication (e.g., API keys), request throttling, usage plans, or request validation, which are crucial for a robust public API frontend. These API-specific features would need to be implemented within the backend services themselves or by adding other services in front of the ALB, increasing complexity.
- ✓
Amazon API Gateway
Why this is correct
Amazon API Gateway is a fully managed service specifically designed for creating, publishing, maintaining, monitoring, and securing REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs at any scale. It acts as a secure 'front door' for applications to access data, business logic, or functionality from backend services like AWS Lambda or DynamoDB. Key features include request/response transformation, authentication (e.g., API keys, IAM, Cognito), throttling, caching, and custom domain support, making it ideal for exposing a database query API.
- ✗
AWS CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudFront is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) service primarily designed to cache content at edge locations globally to improve performance and reduce latency for end-users. Its main function is content delivery, not API creation or management. While CloudFront can be placed in front of an API Gateway to cache API responses and enhance global reach, it does not provide the core functionality for defining API endpoints, handling request routing, authentication, or backend integration logic required to build the API itself.
- ✗
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is an object storage service offering industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance for storing and retrieving any amount of data. Although S3 can host static websites and serve static files, it fundamentally lacks the compute capabilities to execute dynamic backend logic, process database queries, or provide the advanced API management features, such as request validation or authentication, necessary for a transactional RESTful API.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This DVA-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DVA-C02 exam.
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